TRANSPORT

Railways: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to help reduce overcrowding on commuter rail services serving Bexley.

Theresa Villiers: Under the terms of their franchise agreement, Southeastern is required to manage their rolling stock resources to ensure there is sufficient capacity on each rail service to minimise overcrowding.
	Following the introduction of the December 2009 timetable, Southeastern carried out a survey of the loadings of services. This resulted in Southeastern strengthening a number of services operating to Bexley from the May 2010 timetable change date.
	Network Rail is in the course of carrying out an assessment of the power supply to determine what work needs to be done to enable longer trains to run on commuter routes in the Southeastern suburban area in the future.

Roads: Management

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what plans he has to encourage local authorities to develop highways asset management plans;
	(2)  how many local authorities have a highways asset management plan.

Norman Baker: In England development of highways asset management plans are a matter for each local highway authority.
	The Department for Transport recognises the value of good asset management in delivering effective and efficient highway services to meet local needs. The Department will therefore continue to work closely with the UK Roads Liaison Group, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and others to help spread best practice in highways asset management, including through the highways maintenance efficiency programme announced as part of the spending review.

Shipping: Pilots

Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2011,  Official Report, column 29W, on shipping, if he will publish the advice he received on section 32(1) of the Pilotage Act 1987 in relation to the regulation of standards of qualifications for statutory pilots.

Michael Penning: It is an important principle that, in certain circumstances, individuals and public authorities are able to consult in confidence. The Department for Transport, in common with all other Government Departments, does not disclose the advice it receives about legislation.

Train Operating Companies: Waste Disposal

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the provision which permits train operating companies to operate on passenger rail services sanitary facilities which discharge waste directly onto tracks.

Theresa Villiers: The Department for Transport would like to see all passenger trains fitted with retention toilet systems, an aspiration that is fully supported by the wider rail industry. However, this will take time to deliver given its reliance on the introduction of new trains, which are all fitted with retention toilets, and the extent to which such systems can be retrofitted to older fleets.
	The Department is working with train operators, Network Rail and rolling stock leasing companies to identify affordable opportunities to install toilet retention systems and other mitigations in older fleets.

Trust Ports

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps he is able to take in consequence of an assessment that a trust port has lost the confidence of its stakeholders;
	(2)  whether he has reviewed the quality of stakeholder engagement required of trust ports;
	(3)  whether he has made an assessment of the confidence stakeholders have in each trust port.

Michael Penning: The Department for Transport's guidance to the sector (Modernising Trust Ports, second edition) makes clear that trust ports should always deal with their stakeholders in an accountable manner. Trust ports are asked to report annually on their compliance with the guidance, and where they have not been able to comply, explain their reasons. In the normal course of business, Ministers and officials from the Department meet with both trust port managers and stakeholders.
	I am satisfied that the guidance, which represents a code of good practice, provides clear direction to the sector as well as to stakeholders seeking recourse.

Trust Ports

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the criteria to apply to a community bid for a trust port supported by relevant stakeholders.

Michael Penning: The Department for Transport produced a guidance note concerning the procedure for the sale of trust ports in January 2010 which remains in force. A copy of the guidance is in the Library of the House.

Trust Ports

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has received any request or proposal from a trust port to seek powers through a harbour revision order to modify the terms of the Ports Act 1991 for the purposes of relinquishing public corporation status.

Michael Penning: In 2004, six of the major trust ports in England and Wales applied to the Secretary of State to modify their status through harbour revision orders which, among other things, would disapply the Secretary of State's power under the Ports Act 1991 to require compulsory privatisation. These applications for orders were all subject to objections and, except for the one that has since been withdrawn, under S.I. 2010 No. 674 they now fall to the Marine Management Organisation to determine within the procedures set out in the Harbours Act 1964 as amended by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, and with regard to any relevant policy guidance from the Department for Transport.

Trust Ports: Privatisation

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on issuing guidance to  (a) the Dover Harbour Board and  (b) other trust ports on proposals for restructuring and privatisation under the provisions of the Ports Act 1991.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) of 16 September 2010,  Official Report, column 1250W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Democratic Republic of Congo: Uranium

Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the  (a) security of and  (b) likely effect on nuclear disarmament of a consignment of partially-enriched uranium abandoned in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Henry Bellingham: We are aware of recent reports regarding the security of nuclear materials, including in the November 2010 UN Group of Experts report. We take such reports of potential proliferation of nuclear materials seriously, and work with international partners to address such threats.

WALES

Departmental Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what single tender contracts her Department has awarded since her appointment; and what the monetary value is of each contract above the EU public procurement threshold.

David Jones: The Wales Office has issued one single tender contract since 12 May 2010. It did not exceed the EU public procurement threshold.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans she has to visit Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency on official business in the next six months.

Cheryl Gillan: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer to him on 25 January 2011,  Official Report, column 194W.

Wales

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many official engagements she undertook in Wales in  (a) October,  (b) November and  (c) December 2010.

Cheryl Gillan: I carried out 10 official engagements in Wales between October and December 2010.

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

Internet

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how much has been paid by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to hon. Members for the provision of website services in the current financial year to date; and in respect of how many hon. Members such payments have been made.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew McDonald, dated January 2011:
	As Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how much has been paid by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to hon. Members for the provision of website services in the current financial year to date; and in respect of how many hon. Members such payments have been made.
	We have paid a total of £110,672.50 to Members for the provision of website services in this financial year and such payments have been made to 149 Members.

Telephone Services

Anne Main: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what consultation was conducted by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) prior to the recent reduction in the opening hours of the IPSA telephone enquiry service.

Charles Walker: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. I have asked IPSA to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew McDonald, dated January 2011:
	As Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what consultation was conducted by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) prior to the reduction in the opening hours of the IPSA telephone enquiry service. 35447
	Many MPs had said to us that they felt that they had to wait too long when calling our information line. In the light of this feedback, we decided to switch to a different model, where our phone lines are open for a shorter period but they are staffed more intensively during that period.
	The approach we have taken reflects both the feedback we have received from MPs themselves but also our own data, which shows that more MPs and their staff choose to call us in the afternoon.
	The outcome of this approach has been a marked improvement in the service we provide to MPs and their staff. Previously, we were answering around 50 per cent of calls in 60 seconds. In the fortnight since we introduced the new operating hours, call volumes have remained steady-but we are now answering around 98 per cent of calls within 60 seconds.

Telephone Services

Anne Main: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what discussions he had with representatives of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority on the recent reduction in the opening hours of its telephone enquiry service.

Charles Walker: I have had no discussions with representatives of the IPSA on the reduction in the opening hours of the telephone enquiry service, which is an operational matter for the IPSA.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

British Aerospace: Tanzania

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Attorney-General if he will make an assessment of the mechanisms available for enforcement of the undertaking given by BAE to make a payment to benefit the people of Tanzania as part of the settlement announced at Southwark crown court on 21 December 2010 in the case of BAE and the sale of an air traffic control system to Tanzania.

Edward Garnier: As part of the plea agreement reached with the SFO which was sanctioned by Southwark crown court on 21 December 2010, BAE agreed to make an ex-gratia payment to the people of Tanzania of £30 million less the fine imposed by the court. No formal legal mechanism for enforcement of such a payment exists, but BAE invited the court to pass sentence on this basis and received a fine which took into account the ex gratia payment, there is nothing to suggest that BAE will not make the ex-gratia payment. BAE is currently considering a proposal by the Government of Tanzania about how the payment will be used for the benefit of the people of Tanzania. The Department for International Development have advised the Government of Tanzania on the development of their proposal.

Departmental Working Conditions

Mike Freer: To ask the Attorney-General what the Law Officers' Departments' policy is on  (a) the space provided per employee,  (b) home working and  (c) hot desking; how many employees they have on average per desk; and how much space on average there is per employee.

Dominic Grieve: The information requested is detailed as follows:
	The Attorney-General's Office (AGO) does not have a policy on the space provided per employee however use of space is kept under review. As a result the office is now shared with the Office for Budget Responsibility.
	AGO does not operate a hot desking policy and provides one desk per employee.
	The average space per employee is 17.25m(2). This includes common areas such as reception and hallways and unusable office space such as plant rooms in the basement. AGO follows the Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSoL) flexible working policy which includes home working.
	TSoL policy is to make the most cost effective use of accommodation by operating flexible working arrangements, including providing nine desks for every 10 employees in their main location. In January 2011 in their main location the average number of employees per desk is 1.09 and the space provided on average per employee is 8.79m(2).
	The Treasury Solicitor's Department does provide for limited home working, subject to the needs of the business and with the prior agreement of line managers.
	The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has targets to reduce the size of its estate to a ratio of 10 square metres per employee, and achieve a ratio of between 8 and 10 square metres per employee when acquiring new property or following major refurbishments. As at 30 September 2010, the CPS estate averaged 16m(2) per employee. The Department does not hold separate figures on the number of desks or workstations on the estate.
	The CPS has a policy on home working and a number of employees do work from home. Some CPS employees work in posts which are home-based on a permanent basis, e.g. employees working for CPS Direct (CPSD), which provides charging advice to the police outside normal business hours. In addition, some employees work from home on a casual basis (i.e. as a non-permanent arrangement), at the discretion of their line management, where there is benefit for both the CPS and the employee. The CPS has no specific policy covering hot desking.
	The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) utilises an open plan office policy, there are no cellular offices on the SFO's estate. This provides more space for meeting rooms which are shared by both the SFO and National Fraud Authority (NFA).
	There is a full and detailed policy for home working which is one of the options available to staff under the SFO's flexible working policy. There are two types of home working:
	Working from home, where the home is used as a base location and the employee may sometimes be required to travel to and from the office
	Working at home, where the employee is based at an office but carries out some work in their own home
	The combined staffing of the SFO and NFA means there are approximately 0.8 employees per desk. There are 20 hot-desks available for SFO staff. On average there is 12.4m(2) of space per employee inclusive of meeting rooms and storage space.
	The NFA recognises the benefit of flexible working arrangements and enables employees to work from home as necessary, with appropriate authorisation, but has no policy regarding the provision of office space per employee and hot desking.
	HMCPI's London office, occupies a listed building and the average space per employee is 29.5m(2). This includes common areas such as reception and hallways and unusable office space such as plant rooms in the basement. HMCPSI currently does not have a policy on the space provided per employee, however the Inspectorate will soon be relocating to the TSol offices in One Kemble street where an open plan policy and hot desking policy is in operation, and it is anticipated that the average space per employee will be much reduced.
	HMCPSI currently have two members of staff who work on a regular basis from home. Staff are entitled to apply to work from home via their line managers and such a request would be considered in line with HMCPSI's flexible working policy which takes into account the business needs of the organisation and any security issues.

Welsh Language

Hywel Williams: To ask the Attorney-General when the Law Officers' Departments last published a Welsh language scheme in accordance with the provisions of the Welsh Language Act 1993; and at which web addresses such schemes can be accessed in  (a) Welsh and  (b) English.

Dominic Grieve: The Law Officer's Departments are not considered to be "public bodies" under the provisions of the Welsh Language Act 1993 (Section 21) and are consequently not required to publish a Welsh Language Scheme. The Crown Prosecution Service is the only Law Officer's Department which has produced one and this was last published in 2008. It can be found at:
	http://www.byig-wlb.org.uk/English/publications/Publications/Welsh%20Language%20Scheme%20-%20Crown%20Prosecution%20Service.pdf

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether implementation of his proposals to reform air passenger duty will be revenue-neutral.

Justine Greening: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 22 November 2010,  Official Report, column 83W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter).

Air Passenger Duty

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  for what reason premium economy aircraft seats are liable for the same rate of air passenger duty as business and first class aircraft seats;
	(2)  what recent representations he has received from airlines on the rate of duty levied on premium economy seats; and if he will assess the effect on levying such duty at a higher rate on the propensity of airlines to offer premium economy seats in future.

Justine Greening: Seats on an aircraft only qualify for the reduced rate of air passenger duty (APD) if they are the lowest class of travel and have a seat pitch that does not exceed 40 inches. This criterion applies irrespective of how the seat is marketed.
	Since the Budget in June, the Government have met a number of stakeholders to discuss APD. The Government will explore changes to the aviation tax system and major changes will be subject to consultation.

Air Passenger Duty

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the future level of air passenger duty in respect of premium economy passengers.

Justine Greening: Seats on an aircraft only qualify for the reduced rate of air passenger duty (APD) if they are the lowest class of travel and have a seat pitch that does not exceed 40 inches. This criterion applies irrespective of how the seat is marketed.
	Since the Budget in June, the Government have met a number of stakeholders to discuss APD. The Government will explore changes to the aviation tax system and major changes will be subject to consultation.

Car Allowances

Henry Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the merits of reviewing the level of the HM Revenue and Customs mileage allowance payment.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in response to the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Gordon Banks) on 13 September 2010,  Official Report, column 785W.

Child Benefit

Karl Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential savings to the Exchequer of withdrawing child benefit from families with a higher rate tax payer if the higher rate threshold were adjusted to negate an increase in the personal allowance to £10,000.

Justine Greening: The estimated savings depend on the year in which the personal allowance is increased to £10,000. This is subject to future Budget policy decisions, meaning it is not currently possible to estimate the potential savings.

Credit Unions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of trends in the number of credit unions in the last 20 years.

Mark Hoban: In 1990 there were 275 credit unions in Great Britain, peaking in 2001 at 698, but since then decreasing to 443. Over the same period, the membership of credit unions has grown from 53,916 to over 760,000. We have no comparable figures for Northern Ireland. The Legislative Reform (Industrial and Provident Societies and Credit Unions) Order, currently going through Parliament, should enable credit unions to expand their membership further.

Departmental Billing

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of payments made by his Department to  (a) small and medium-sized enterprise suppliers and  (b) all suppliers were made (i) within 10 days of receipt of invoice and (ii) on the agreed payment terms in the last three months for which information is available.

Justine Greening: The Treasury aims to pay all suppliers, irrespective of size, within the same time period. The following table shows the 10 day payment performance for the Treasury for the past three months.
	
		
			   Percentage of invoices paid within 10 days 
			 May 94.4 
			 June 96.5 
			 July 98.2 
		
	
	Details of the five day payment performance for the Treasury Group (HM Treasury, Debt Management Office and Office of Government Commerce) can be found at:
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

Departmental Pay

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information his Department holds on the number of sub-contracted staff servicing his Department who were not paid at a rate equivalent to or above the London living wage in the latest period for which figures are available.

Justine Greening: HM Treasury has no sub-contracted staff servicing 1 Horse Guards road earning less than or equivalent to the London living wage. However HM Treasury has no involvement in wage levels for staff employed by Exchequer Partnership which provides building maintenance and services.

Departmental Working Conditions

Mike Freer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's policy is on  (a) the space provided per employee,  (b) home working and  (c) hot desking; how many employees it has on average per desk; and how much space on average there is per employee.

Justine Greening: HM Treasury's Departmental policy on (a) space provided per employee  (b) home working and  (c) hot desking is to provide adequate space and flexible working opportunities to support the business in effectively delivering its objectives. In 2009-10, HM Treasury had an average of 1.1 workstations per full-time equivalent employee (FTE)-approximately 0.9 FTE per workstation-at an average space allocation of 13.1 m(2). Current IT and workplace projects are improving the way the Treasury works, including using space more efficiently, supporting remote working more effectively and moving to desk sharing during the 2010 spending review period.

Departmental Written Questions

Paul Beresford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for written answer on a named day were answered substantively before or on the day named for answer  (a) in Session 2009-10 and  (b) since May 2010; how many such questions tabled between May 2010 and 12 November 2010 had not received a substantive answer by 18 November 2010; and what estimate he has made of the average cost to his Department of answering a question for written answer on a named day on the day named for answer in the latest period for which figures are available.
	(2)  how many and what proportion of questions tabled to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for ordinary written answer  (a) in Session 2009-10 and  (b) since May 2010 were answered within (i) seven days and (ii) 14 days of tabling; how many such questions tabled between May 2010 and 12 November 2010 remained unanswered by 18 November 2010; and what estimate he has made of the average cost to his Department of answering a question for ordinary written answer within seven days of tabling in the latest period for which figures are available.

Justine Greening: The Government have committed to providing the Procedure Committee with statistics by Session in a standard format on the time taken to respond to written parliamentary questions for the 2009-10 Session of Parliament. This information will be submitted to the Procedure Committee shortly.
	The information covering the beginning of the current Session to 20 December is set out in the table.
	
		
			   Total received  Answered on or before the due date (percentage)  Answered within 7 days  Answered within 14 days 
			 Named day 441 58.3 n/a n/a 
			 Ordinary written 1,508 66.4 328 139 
		
	
	Treasury ministers have replied substantively to all PQs tabled to the Department between May 2010 and 12 November.
	The Treasury conducts an annual indexation exercise of the cost of written and oral parliamentary questions so as to ensure that these average costs go up in line with increases in underlying costs. The estimated costs that have applied from 20 January 2010 are £154 for written questions and £425 for oral questions. The Treasury, in making its assessment of the cost of answering questions, does not differentiate between the types of written questions.

Economy and Public Finances

Karl Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library an update to the estimated value of assets set out in table 2.2 of Budget 2010: the economy and public finances, supplementary material for the latest period in which figures are available.

Danny Alexander: The Office for Budget Responsibility published an update to the aforementioned table in 'Further information on asset sales, financial transactions, and privatisation receipts' on 21 December 2010. This publication is available at:
	http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/d/asset_sales_financial_transactions_211210.pdf

EU Institutions: Fines

Graham Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the potential UK liability for fines from EU institutions in the next three years.

Justine Greening: The United Kingdom has never incurred a financial penalty under article 260 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union (or under the former article 228 (ex article 171) of the treaty establishing the European Community). No such financial penalties are expected over the next three years.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Brian Binley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average cost to motorists in the next 12 months of the recent increase in the rate of fuel duty .

Justine Greening: Data on average retail road fuel prices are published every week by the Department of Energy and Climate Change at:
	www.decc.gov.uk/publications

Excise Duties: Fuels

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from motoring groups on his policy on a fuel price stabiliser.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 1 November 2010,  Official Report, column 665W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith).
	The Chancellor routinely receives a range of representations from stakeholders and the general public on current and future rates of excise duty as well as other issues such as fuel prices.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to introduce a fuel duty stabiliser.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 1 November 2010,  Official Report, column 665W, to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith).

Financial Services

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the main areas of  (a) strength and  (b) weakness of the financial services industry.

Mark Hoban: The Government in conjunction with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) are closely monitoring the strength and vulnerability of the UK's banking sector.
	The Bank of England regularly publish Financial Stability Reports and in their latest one set out in detail their assessment of the resilience of the UK financial system. The Government assessment of UK financial institutions is also informed by international reports by the IMF and OECD such as the Global Financial Stability Report.
	The key financial institutions have also been subject to a rigorous stress testing exercise assessing the strengths and weaknesses of UK institutions and ensuring that they are well capitalised. In addition, the UK is working closely with the IMF on a system-wide stress test of the UK financial sector as part of the IMF Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) for the UK. This report is expected to be published in July 2011.

Foreign Exchange: Regulation

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of currency exchange services; what estimate he has made of the number of individuals who have outstanding liabilities following the entry into administration of Crown Currency Exchange; and what recent representations he has received on the entry into administration of Crown Currency Exchange.

Mark Hoban: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on 15 November 2010,  Official  Report, column 613W.

Members: Correspondence

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury intends to respond to the letter of 23 July 2010 from the hon. Member for Monmouth on national savings and investments.

Justine Greening: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 16 December 2010.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department plans to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 7 October and 13 December 2010 regarding child benefit.

David Gauke: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Royal Mint

Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much profit of the Royal Mint has been paid to the Exchequer in each of the last three years for which figures are available;
	(2)  whether he or Ministers in his Department have authorised spending by the Royal Mint on television advertising;
	(3)  what the cost to the public purse is of the television advertising campaign by the Royal Mint.

Justine Greening: The Royal Mint is a Government-owned company which operates at arm's length from HM Treasury within an agreed governance framework. The Royal Mint pays a regular dividend to HM Treasury as declared in its annual report and accounts, which in 2009-10 was £4 million, in 2008-09 was £4 million and in 2007-08 was £3.9 million. Operational decisions such as advertising strategy are made by the company on a commercial basis and details of these are commercially confidential.

Tax Avoidance

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised as a result of Government action against tax avoidance  (a) in the last five years and  (b) since May 2010; and how much such revenue he expects to raise in the next 12 months.

David Gauke: Total results for tax recovered as a result of our tackling non-compliance can be found in HMRC's Departmental Autumn Performance Report 2009 at table 4, which is available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/autumn-report-2009.pdf
	The amounts attributable to avoidance are not identifiable separately because HMRC do not collate performance data on this basis.
	The fiscal impact of all Budget measures, including measures to close off avoidance opportunities, can be found in each Budget report.
	On 6 December the Government announced a package of further measures to tackle tax avoidance. These measures in aggregate are estimated to raise over £2 billion in additional revenue over the next four years. The final costings for the package of measures will be subject to scrutiny by the Office for Budget Responsibility and will be set out at the Budget.
	The Government are also investing £900 million over the spending review period to transform HMRC's work against avoidance, evasion and criminal attack, to bring in extra tax revenue of around £7 billion a year by 2014-15.

Tax Yields: Northern Ireland

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was  (a) collected in taxation and  (b) spent on public services in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Danny Alexander: Figures on the total amount of taxes collected in Northern Ireland are not available. The latest figures for total identifiable spending in Northern Ireland are published in table 9.1, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2010 (Cm 7890).

Taxation: Bingo

Luciana Berger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has met representatives of the bingo industry to discuss taxation of the industry.

Justine Greening: Treasury Ministers and officials meet representatives from a wide range of organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and implementation. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Taxation: Gaming Machines

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the potential effects on businesses in North Wales of replacing the amusement machine licence duty with a gross profits tax.

Justine Greening: The Government are seeking further input from industry on Machine Games Duty, and it is intended that a formal consultation will be held in spring or early summer.

EDUCATION

Children: Protection

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children aged  (a) under one,  (b) between one and four,  (c) between five and nine,  (d) between 10 and 15 and  (e) over 16 years went from being subject to a care order or protection order etc, to each category of destination in each year since 1995.

Tim Loughton: The information requested on how many children aged  (a) under one,  (b) between one and four,  (c) between five and nine, (d) between 10 and 15 and  (e) over 16 years went from care, defined as subject to a care order or protection order etc, to each category of destination in each year since 1995 can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Allowances

Matthew Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department and its predecessors spent on  (a) reimbursement of staff expenses and  (b) the 10 largest staff expense reimbursement claims in each year since 1997.

Tim Loughton: Information available on the reimbursements spent on staff expenses is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Total staff reimbursement costs (£) 
			 2004-05 3,968.78 
			 2005-06 66,421.89 
			 2006-07 68,594.29 
			 2007-08 83,297.65 
			 2008-09 39,960.04 
			 2009-10 88,221.93 
		
	
	Information for previous years and the 10 largest claims for all years could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	All expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.

Departmental Conferences

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he has taken since his appointment to reduce expenditure on conferences from budgets within his responsibility.

Tim Loughton: The Department has put in place efficiency controls to ensure significant items of expenditure are approved at a senior level. Where possible, conferences are held within the Department's premises in order to keep costs to a minimum.

Departmental Conferences

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his Department's annual budget for conferences was at  (a) 7 May 2010 and  (b) 7 December 2010.

Tim Loughton: The Department's annual budget for management conferences at 7 May 2010 was £213,000 and at 7 December 2010 it was £126,541. This is a reduction of £86,459 or 40.6%.

Departmental Equality

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to publish equality impact assessments undertaken by his Department as part of the comprehensive spending review; and if he will make a statement.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 20 October 2010
	 The Government stated in their "Spending Review Framework" that they would
	"look closely at the effects of its decisions on different groups in society, especially the least well off, and on different regions"
	(2.4, page 7). The Treasury has published its "Overview of the impact of the Spending Review on equalities". The Department will further consider equalities impacts as appropriate and as decisions are taken on how to pursue policy aims with the resources allocated to us.

Departmental Procurement

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had with voluntary and community groups on bidding for contracts let by his Department.

Tim Loughton: The Minister of State for Children and Families and I met representatives of key departmental voluntary and community organisations on 11 November 2010 to consult them on draft proposals for the overall process for future funding of the voluntary and community sector which subsequently resulted in our national prospectus published on 22 November 2010 inviting expressions of interest for grants through open competition.

Latin: GCSE

Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education for what reasons Latin has been disallowed as a GCSE examination by the Welsh Joint Education Committee.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 24 January 2011
	This is a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). The chief executive of Ofqual, Isabel Nisbet, will write to the hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Libraries.

Pupils: Bullying

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many grants his Department made to organisations engaged in bullying prevention in each year from 2004-05 to 2009-10; and what his estimate is of the number of such grants to be made in 2010-11.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 30 November 2010
	 The Department for Education's predecessors awarded both grants and contracts to organisations engaged in anti-bullying work between the financial years of 2004-05 and 2009-10. The work undertaken by these organisations ranged from the production of guidance and resources on bullying to supporting schools and local authorities develop their strategies to tackle bullying. The total budget of these grants and contracts for the six the financial years from 2004-05 to 2009-10 was £10,479,975.00, an average of £1.75 million per financial year. The organisations in receipt of the grants and/or contracts were:
	Anti-Bullying Alliance
	Parentline Plus
	Diana Awards
	Beatbullying
	Stonewall
	ChildLine in Partnership with Schools Programme
	Mentoring and Befriending Foundation
	Kidscape
	Childnet International
	Council for Disabled Children
	The Department for Education budget for anti-bullying prevention in 2010-11 financial year is £1,979,711.00. This budget will be spent on two grants and three contracts to Kidscape, Diana Awards, Parentline Plus, Beatbullying and the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

Schools: Brighton

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools in the city of Brighton and Hove area operated a school sport partnership programme in each year since 2007.

Tim Loughton: All maintained schools in the city of Brighton and Hove have been members of the Dorothy Stringer school sport partnership (SSP) since 2007. The Secretary of State has confirmed funding for the partnerships until the end of the school year 2010/11, after which it will be for Brighton and Hove schools to decide for themselves whether to continue to work in partnership to organise competitive sport. The Secretary of State has also announced that every secondary school will be funded to summer 2013 to allow a PE teacher to be out of the classroom for a day a week, embedding current good practice and encouraging greater take-up of competitive sport.

Schools: Brighton Kemptown

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent assessment he has made of standards of attainment in schools in the Brighton, Kemptown constituency.

Nick Gibb: The latest available information is given in the following tables:
	
		
			  Key Stage 2: Percentage of pupils attending schools in Brighton Kemptown achieving level 4 or above in both English and Mathematics, 2008 to 2010 
			   2008  2009  2010 
			 Bevendean Primary School 67 59 59 
			 Carlton Hill Primary School 92 63 (1)- 
			 Coombe Road Primary School 61 57 (1)- 
			 Hoddern Junior School 64 62 (1)- 
			 Meridian Community Primary School 77 69 54 
			 Moulsecoomb Primary School 61 49 (1)- 
			 Our Lady of Lourdes RC School 86 75 (1)- 
			 Queen's Park Primary School 78 57 (1)- 
			 Rudyard Kipling Primary School 82 48 (1)- 
			 Saltdean Primary School 75 75 (1)- 
			 St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School 80 83 (1)- 
			 St Luke's Primary School 79 80 (1)- 
			 St Margaret's CofE Primary School 72 78 79 
			 St Mark's CofE Primary School 48 60 (1)- 
			 Telscombe Cliffs Community Primary School 68 75 59 
			 Whitehawk Primary School 33 28 (1)- 
			 Woodingdean Primary School 83 77 (1)- 
			 Downs View Special School (2)- (2)- (2)- 
			 
			 Brighton Kempton constituency 70 65 n/a 
			 
			 England 73 72 73 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Boycott school. The school did not submit Key Stage 2 results. (2) The school had 10, or fewer, pupils eligible for KS2 assessment at the time of the tests. Results are not shown because of the risk of an individual pupil's results being identified.  Source: School and College Performance tables 
		
	
	
		
			  Key Stage 4: Percentage of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 attending schools in Brighton Kemptown gaining 5+ A*- C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and Mathematics GCSEs, 2008 to 2010 
			   2008  2009  2010 
			 Falmer High School(1) 19 25 23 
			 Longhill High School 36 41 43 
			 Peacehaven Community School 46 41 44 
			 Downs View Special School (2)- (2)- (2)- 
			 
			 Brighton Kemptown constituency 34.7 36.8 n/a 
			 
			 England 47.6 49.8 53.4 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Falmer High School closed on 31 August 2010. (2) Data suppressed as the school has 10 or fewer pupils in a particular denominator for the indicator. Results are not shown because of the risk of an individual pupil's results being identified.  Source: School and College Performance tables 
		
	
	The School and College Performance tables can be accessed via the Department's website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/performancetables/
	We want all children, whatever their background, to achieve high standards in reading, writing and mathematics. That is why we are introducing a pupil premium which will provide extra funding for those schools with the most challenging intakes.

Schools: Sports

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much School Sports Partnership grant was allocated to schools in Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency in 2009-10.

Tim Loughton: Stoke-on-Trent Central is within the Berry Hill school sport partnership (SSP). For academic year 2009/10 Berry Hill received a total of £292,387 of SSP funding. This money was divided between one sports college, eight secondary schools, one secondary special school, two special primary schools, one pupil referral unit (PRU) and 34 primary schools.

Sixth Form Colleges: Finance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the Barnett consequentials are of the funding arrangements announced in his statement on 19 January 2011 on capital funding for sixth form colleges and 16 to 19 years basic need; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	Capital funding in 2011-12 for sixth form colleges and for places in schools and academies with sixth forms will be funded from within DFE's existing spending review 2010 capital allocations. The allocation of the funding entails no new spending and as a result no new funding for the devolved Administrations. The devolved Administrations have received Barnett consequentials on this funding in the normal way.

Third Sector: Finance

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many third sector organisations or registered charities have received funding from the Youth Sector Development Fund; and what the cost to the public purse was of that programme on the latest date for which figures are available.

Tim Loughton: The Youth Sector Development Fund has provided grant funding and business support to 43 civil sector organisations. Total grant, management and business support costs from April 2008 to the end of September 2010 are £56.3 million.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to reply to question 18277, on equality impact assessments, tabled on 14 October 2010 for ordinary written answer.

Tim Loughton: A response was issued to the hon. Member today.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts: Employment

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the arts sector in each local authority area in Yorkshire and the Humber; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Department does not hold this information. However, Arts Council England has provided figures relating to the number of arts sector staff, in each employment category, in their Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs). The 2009-10 figures for Yorkshire and the Humber are set out in the table.
	
		
			  Local authority  Permanent full-time  Permanent part-time  Contractual 
			 Barnsley 3 4 30 
			 Bradford 92 50 353 
			 Calderdale 16 18 104 
			 Craven 0 12 8 
			 Doncaster 9 26 36 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3 22 53 
			 Hambleton 4 2 55 
			 Harrogate 22 23 59 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 40 57 112 
			 Kirklees 47 34 332 
			 Leeds 433 179 1,406 
			 North East Lincolnshire 0 10 16 
			 North Lincolnshire 6 29 0 
			 Richmondshire 8 4 16 
			 Ryedale 4 6 330 
			 Scarborough 34 17 60 
			 Sheffield 194 115 552 
			 Wakefield 101 116 78 
			 York 39 26 175 
			 Total 1,055 750 3,775

Broadband

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the suitability of North Wales as a designated area in the next round of broadband pilots.

Edward Vaizey: I have made no such assessment. The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport announced on 6 December that £50 million would be made available for the next round of broadband projects. Bids for support for projects will be invited from local authorities in April 2011 on the basis of guidance from Broadband Delivery UK, to be issued in the near future. At that point, any bid from north Wales will be given the same consideration as all the others submitted.

Creative Industries

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the main areas of  (a) strength and  (b) weakness of the creative industries.

Edward Vaizey: I have not made any specific assessment of the main areas of strength and weakness of the creative industries. However, the Creative Industries Economic Estimates Report produced by DCMS in December 2010 reported that the creative industries, excluding crafts, accounted for 5.6% of gross value added to the UK economy in 2008.
	Potential opportunities and barriers to growth in this sector will be considered as part of the digital and creative industries growth review.

Cricket: Television

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent representations he has received on the broadcast of  (a) future Ashes series and  (b) other live Test cricket on terrestrial television; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 25 January 2011
	The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport has received no recent representations on the broadcasting of test cricket. The Government have made the decision to defer any review of listed events until 2013 following the completion of digital switchover.

Internet

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on what date he plans to hold the proposed Ministerial seminar on hate on the internet.

Edward Vaizey: My officials are in discussion with other interested Departments and we hope to arrange for these important matters to be discussed further in the spring.

Lottery

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much has been paid from the Big Lottery fund to projects in  (a) the most deprived 100 wards and  (b) the least deprived 100 wards in each year for which data is available.

Edward Vaizey: The information requested is not held centrally.
	I have therefore asked the chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund to write to the hon. Member for the Vale of Clwyd directly.
	Copies of the response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of her Department's expenditure on matched funding for Rural Development Fund payments to farmers in England in  (a) 2010-11 and  (b) each of the next four years.

James Paice: The estimate used for DEFRA's 2010-11 Exchequer contribution to the Rural Development Programme for England 2007-13, as part of spending review 2010, was £193 million.
	The annual indicative spending plans for the Exchequer contribution over the remainder of the current programme period, up to 2013, are:
	2011-12: £140 million
	2012-13: £137 million
	2013-14: £127 million.

Animal Feed

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to encourage British farmers to use home-grown animal feed rather than imported animal feed.

James Paice: The use of the most appropriate animal feed is just one of a number of policy issues associated with the sustainability of the UK livestock sector that the Government are considering, and DEFRA is currently investing in research and development to deliver the information we need for science-based alternatives to current feedstuffs. The Government will continue to support UK food and farming businesses in ensuring that resources needed from abroad to supplement our livestock industry are sourced sensitively and responsibly.

Animal Feed: Production

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the proportion of feed for livestock in England which is produced in the UK.

James Paice: DEFRA surveys collect information on the amount of raw materials and the corresponding amount of compound animal feed produced for Great Britain and integrated poultry feed for UK. In both these cases, the feed is produced and used domestically. These do not distinguish between domestic and imported raw materials. For some of the raw materials such as soya cake and meal, this would have to be imported as it is not grown in the UK.
	Cereals are an important element of animal feed across all livestock types, and broadly make up around 40% of feed. The remaining 60% consists of crops, such as soy, and also by-products from the food and drink industry, such as distillery dregs.
	For the key cereals, such as wheat and barley, an estimate is made of the proportions of domestic and imported grain used for animal feed through the cereals balance sheet. This also includes grain which is home mixed and used on farm for feed in addition to manufactured compound feed. The balance sheet estimates indicate that the vast majority (above 96%) of wheat and barley grain used for animal feed is domestically sourced.
	Links to the DEFRA surveys and the cereals balance sheet are available at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/evidence/statistics/foodfarm/food/animalfeed/documents/mcompspn.pdf
	http://www.hgca.com/document.aspx?fn=load&media_id=6793&publicationId=99

Animal Products: Imports

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department has budgeted for  (a) print press,  (b) television,  (c) internet and  (d) poster material to raise awareness among the general public of the potential risks from illegal imports of products of animal origin in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) each of the next four years.

James Paice: DEFRA's 2010-11 budget for developing and delivering communication to raise awareness among the general public of the potential risks from illegal imports of products of animal origin is £44,475. This activity includes research to inform the development of a communication strategy, an annual rate to continue to broadcast a free-to-air TV filler (Don't Bring Me Back) and storage of leaflets and event materials prior to distribution.
	For the next four years, DEFRA anticipates a budget of less than £25,000 per annum on paid-for communication about illegal imports of products of animal origin. The budget reflects the Government-wide reduction in spending on marketing and advertising campaigns.

Biofuels

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the Department of Energy and Climate Change on the development of crops for biomass energy generation; and whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that the cultivation of energy crops meets demand for biomass fuels.

James Paice: Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have regular discussions with officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change regarding the development of crops for biomass energy generation. These discussions cover a wide range of issues, including incentivising renewable energy, sustainability, energy security, business opportunities in the UK farming and forestry sectors, and delivery of the UK's targets for climate change and renewable energy.

Biofuels: Carbon Emissions

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons figures for direct carbon emissions from the combustion of fuel sources were removed from the Biomass Energy Centre website.

James Paice: The managers of the Biomass Energy Centre website removed the information because it became clear to them that there was some misrepresentation of this information. This was probably due to a misunderstanding of the fundamental difference between the direct carbon emissions associated with burning biomass (releasing carbon from the current carbon cycle) and fossil fuels (releasing carbon sequestered in prehistoric times). The estimates of lifecycle carbon emissions remain on the website.

Birds of Prey: Crime

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 December 2010,  Official Report, column 1333W, on birds of prey: crime, how many convictions there were for offences relating to persecution of birds of prey in  (a) England,  (b) Wales,  (c) Scotland and  (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 2000.

Richard Benyon: The following table provides information on the number of defendants found guilty at all courts for bird related offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, England and Wales, during the period 2000 to 2009 (latest available). Data held centrally on the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database does not include information about the circumstances behind each case other than that which may be identified from a statute and it is not possible to identify the separate species of birds as given in the statute. Therefore it is not possible to say how many convictions related specifically to birds of prey.
	Court proceedings data for 2010 is planned to be published in the spring.
	Information for Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the relevant Administrations.
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for bird related offences, England and Wales, 2000 to 2009( 1, 2) 
			  Statute  Offence description  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009 
			  England
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 8(3)(a) & 21(1), and 8(3)(b) & 21(1) Protection of captive birds 4 3 2 - 1 2 - 3 2 1 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 1(1)(a), 1(4) & 21(1), and 1(5)(b) & 21(1) Protection of wild birds 11 15 9 18 47 21 84 18 15 10 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 1(1)(b), 1(4) & 21(1), and 1(1)(c) 1(4) & 21(1) Protection of nests and eggs of wild birds. 6 17 6 5 7 9 11 2 4 4 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 3(1)(a) Protection of wild birds in sanctuaries - - - 1 - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 3(1)(a) Protection of the nests and eggs of wild birds in sanctuaries - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 3(1)(b) Illegal entry into bird sanctuaries - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 5(1)(b) & 21(1), 5(1)(c) & 21(1), 5(1)(d) & 21(1), 5(1)(e) & 21(1), and 5(1)(f) & 21(1) Prohibition of certain methods of killing or taking wild birds 1 2 4 2 1 3 4 1 - 4 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 6(1)(a) & 6(4) & 21(1), 6(1)(a) 21(1), 6(1)(b) & 6(4) & 21(1), 6(1)(b) & 21(1), 6(2)(a) 6(4) & 21(1), 6(2)(a) 21(1), 6(2)(b) 6(4) & 21(1), 6(3) 6(4) & 21(1), 6(3) & 21(1) Sale etc. of live or dead wild birds, eggs etc. 3 1 - - 1 - 1 - 1 2 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 7(3)(a) & 21(1), 7(3)(b) & 21(1), 7(4)(a) & 21(1), and 7(4)(b) & 21(1) Registration etc. of certain captive birds 1 - 2 2 1 - - - - 1 
			 Total England  26 38 23 28 58 35 100 24 22 22 
		
	
	
		
			  Statute  Offence description  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 3)  2009 
			  Wales( 3)
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 8(3)(a) & 21(1), and 8(3)(b) & 21(1) Protection of captive birds. - - - - - - - - 1 - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 1(1)(a), 1(4) & 21(1), and 1(5)(b) & 21(1) Protection of wild birds 4 2 2 2 5 3 3 3 3 1 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 1(1)(b), 1(4) & 21(1), and 1(1)(c) 1(4) & 21(1) Protection of nests and eggs of wild birds - 1 1 2 1 - - 1 - 1 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 3(1)(a) Protection of wild birds in sanctuaries - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 3(1)(a) Protection of the nests and eggs of wild birds in sanctuaries - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 3(1)(b) Illegal entry into bird sanctuaries - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 5(1)(b) & 21(1), 5(1)(c) & 21(1), 5(1)(d) & 21(1), 5(1)(e) & 21(1), and 5(1)(f) & 21(1) Prohibition of certain methods of killing or taking wild birds 1 - - 1 - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 6(1)(a) & 6(4) & 21(1), 6(1)(a) & 21(1), 6(1)(b) & 6(4) & 21(1), 6(1)(b) & 21(1), 6(2)(a) & 6(4) & 21(1), 6(2)(a) & 21(1), 6(2)(b) 6(4) & 1(1), 6(3) 6(4) & 21(1), 6(3) & 21(1) Sale etc. of live or dead wild birds, eggs etc. - - - - - - - - - - 
			 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Sec 7(3)(a) & 21(1), 7(3)(b) & 21(1), 7(4)(a) & 21(1), and 7(4)(b) & 21(1) Registration etc. of certain captive birds 1 - - - - - - - - - 
			 Total Wales  6 3 3 5 6 3 3 4 4 2 
			 
			 Total England and Wales  32 41 26 33 64 38 103 28 26 24 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

Birds of Prey: Crime

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 21 December 2010,  Official Report, column 1333W, on birds of prey: crime, how many incidents of illegal  (a) poisoning,  (b) shooting,  (c) trapping and  (d) nest destruction were recorded in (i) England, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in respect of each of the five priority raptor species in each year since 2000.

Richard Benyon: Comprehensive information is not held centrally. However many UK police forces provide the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) with information about incidents occurring in their areas. The NWCU holds data for the two years from 1 September 2008 as follows:
	
		
			  Year One (1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009) 
			  Sub category of incident  Species  England  PSNI  Scotland  Wales  Grand total 
			 Confirmed Poisoning Golden Eagle - - 2 - 2 
			  Red kite 1 - 1 2 4 
			  White Tailed Sea Eagle - - 1 - 1 
			 Confirmed Poisoning Total  1 - 4 2 7 
			
			 Nest Disturbance Golden Eagle - - 1 - 1 
			  Goshawk 1 - - 1 2 
			  Hen Harrier - - 1 - 1 
			  Red kite - 1 1 - 2 
			 Nest Disturbance Total  1 1 3 1 6 
			
			 Shooting Hen Harrier 1 - - - 1 
			 Shooting Total  1 - - - 1 
			
			 Traps/Snares Red kite - - 1 - 1 
			 Traps/Snares Total  - - 1 - 1 
			
			 Unconfirmed Poisoning Goshawk 1 - - - 1 
			  Red kite 2 1 1 - 4 
			 Unconfirmed Poisoning Total  3 1 1 - 5 
			
			 Grand Total  6 2 9 3 20 
		
	
	
		
			  Year Two (1 Sept ember 2009 to 31 August  2010) 
			  Sub category of i ncident  Species  England  PSNI  Scotland  Wales  Grand total 
			 Confirmed Poisoning Golden Eagle - - 2 - 2 
			  Red kite 3 1 5 2 11 
			 Confirmed Poisoning Total  3 1 7 2 13 
			
			 Nest Disturbance Golden Eagle - - 3 - 3 
			  Goshawk 2 - - - 2 
			  Hen Harrier - - 2 - 2 
			  Red kite - - - 1 1 
			  White Tailed Sea Eagle - - 1 - 1 
			 Nest Disturbance Total  2 - 6 1 9 
			
			 Shooting Red kite 2 - 1 - 3 
			  White Tailed Sea Eagle - 1 - - 1 
			 Shooting Total  2 1 1 - 4 
			
			 Unconfirmed Poisoning Red kite 1 - 1 1 3 
			 Unconfirmed Poisoning Total  1 - 1 1 3 
			
			 Grand Total  8 2 15 4 29 
			  Notes: 1. Not all police forces send information to the NWCU. 2. Information sent by the other organisations (e.g. RSPB) is not included. 3. Two years' information is insufficient to extrapolate any accurate trends.

Common Agricultural Policy

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on negotiations on the draft Common Agricultural Policy regulation for 2011.

James Paice: It is unclear exactly what the question is referring to. There are many regulations relating to the common agricultural policy (CAP) being modified in 2011 to bring them into line with revised comitology arrangements introduced by the Lisbon treaty. The UK will continue to work with the European Commission to ensure these technical changes are adopted in the most sensible manner.
	If, however, the question is concerning the future of the CAP for the period 2014- 20, we anticipate the Commission will release legislative proposals in the summer. The UK wants to see a competitive, thriving and sustainable EU agriculture and food sector that is able to rise to the challenges and opportunities of the future. We therefore need ambitious reform of the CAP to deliver good value for farmers, taxpayers, consumers and the environment.

Common Agricultural Policy: Imported Soy

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the position of imported soy during forthcoming negotiations on the Common Agricultural Policy.

James Paice: The Government are committed to ensuring that we have a thriving and sustainable livestock sector in the UK and welcome views on the forthcoming common agricultural policy negotiations, particularly as discussions progress in the run up to the Commission producing draft regulations in the summer.
	The importation of soy is just one of a number of policy issues associated with the sustainability of the UK livestock sector that the Government will consider during negotiations, and DEFRA is currently investing in research and development to deliver the information we need for science-based alternatives to its use as a feedstuff. Importantly, the issues go much further than feeding livestock alone, as two-thirds of manufactured food products contain ingredients or derivatives made from soy.

Common Agricultural Policy: Reform

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what her policy is on the development of an agreed UK negotiating position on Common Agricultural Policy reform which takes into account the opinions of the devolved administrations;
	(2)  what recent discussions she has had with the devolved administrations on Common Agricultural Policy reform.

James Paice: I am committed to working closely with the devolved Administrations (DAs) and both the Secretary of State and I have met with them several times to discuss the emerging UK position on reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP). Our forthcoming response to the Commission's CAP Communication, about which the Secretary of State wrote to her ministerial counterparts earlier in January, will reflect many of the DAs' concerns. It is important that the UK position on CAP highlights the need for the sort of ambitious reform that will enable farmers to adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Domestic Biomass Burners: Carbon Emissions

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what her policy is on amending emission limits on domestic biomass burners under 20MW to 30g/GJ for particulates and 150g/GJ for NOx;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen from domestic biomass boilers through  (a) the use of abatement equipment and  (b) other means.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA is in discussion with the Department for Energy and Climate Change over the establishment of emission limits for particulates and nitrogen oxides where biomass combustion is incentivised.

Flood Control: Finance

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much will be distributed to local authorities for flood prevention and protection through the local government formula grant in each of the next four financial years.

Richard Benyon: Formula grant is an "unhypothecated block grant". This means that authorities are free to spend it on any service. For this reason, and due to the method of calculating formula grant, particularly floor damping, it is not possible to say how much grant has been provided for any particular service, including flood prevention and protection. Floor damping is the process of guaranteeing that no authority will receive more than a maximum percentage decrease in grant year-on-year on a like-for-like basis; in order to pay for this changes above the floor are scaled back for other authorities.

Floods

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what review her Department has undertaken to identify those areas of the UK that are at risk of flooding.

Richard Benyon: The floods directive, as transposed by the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 in England and Wales, requires member states to identify areas that are at potentially significant risk of flooding. Flood hazard and flood risk maps and management plans must then be prepared for these areas.
	Given that the Environment Agency already holds equivalent maps and plans for main rivers and coastal flood risk, our work focused on local sources of flooding, for which responsibility lies with lead local flood authorities. To assist local authorities in determining flood risk areas, DEFRA has identified indicative areas which local authorities must then review.
	The method for identifying indicative risk areas was developed in consultation with the Environment Agency , Welsh Assembly Government, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association, drawing on both the Environment Agency's flood maps for surface water and a database of assets at risk. This established areas where 200 people, two or more critical services or 20 or more businesses are at risk of flooding. Clusters of these areas were identified and the results were then ranked to determine the highest risk areas. A threshold of 30,000 people at risk was applied to ensure that the subsequent mapping and planning phases are achievable and not too onerous.
	The result was ten indicative flood risk areas within England, which account for 33% of the national surface water risk. Eight such areas have been identified in Wales.
	A similar approach has been applied in Northern Ireland, and Scotland is in the process of identifying an appropriate methodology.

Food: Consumption

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on consumption in the UK of  (a) intensively produced meat and  (b) imported soy feeds.

James Paice: The Government believes there is a place for sustainable intensification in food production. The world needs more food, at less cost to the environment. Global food security requires the UK, and other Governments in the developed world, to help farmers adopt methods of sustainable intensification. This can help to build the farming practices that will provide the abundant food we need for the future.
	The importation of soy is just one of a number of policy issues associated with the sustainability of the UK livestock sector that the Government are considering, and DEFRA is currently investing in research and development to deliver the information we need for science-based alternatives to its use as a feedstuff. Importantly, the issues go much further than feeding livestock alone, as two-thirds of manufactured food products contain ingredients or derivatives made from soy.

Forests

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many representations her Department has received on the proposed disposal of the public forest estate to date; what categories her Department uses to classify such representations; and whether representations which are based on a common pro forma letter submitted by individual members of the public to her Department are recorded as individual representations.

James Paice: Since the beginning of October last year we have received just over 800 representations on the sale of the public forest estate.
	The categories of correspondence are: letters and emails received directly from members of the public; letters and emails to Ministers from MPs, often on behalf of their constituents; and letters and emails to Ministers from interested organisations. These representations have all been recorded individually.
	In addition, we have received around 2,700 campaign emails from Forest.org. These have also been recorded individually.

Local Authorities: Antisocial Behaviour

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to enhance the powers of local councils to take action against noisy neighbours.

Richard Benyon: I believe the legislative duties and powers available, including those under the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environment Protection Act 1990, are broadly sufficient to enable local councils to take action against noisy neighbours. However, as part of the implementation of the Noise Policy Statement for England, published in 2010, DEFRA officials are working with those at the Home Office on the review of the tools and powers available to address antisocial behaviour.

Midland Pig Producers

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on farming practices at Midland Pig Producers, Foston, Derbyshire.

James Paice: We have received no recent representations on farming practices at Midlands Pig Producers.

Midland Pig Producers

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether she has  (a) received an application for and  (b) granted funding under (i) the Rural Development Programme for England and (ii) any other of her Department's programmes in respect of the proposed large-scale intensive pig farm in Foston, Derbyshire.

James Paice: Neither DEFRA, nor any of the regional development agencies, has received an application or granted funding under either the RDPE, or any of the Department's other support arrangements, for a large-scale intensive pig farm at Foston.

Pigs: Animal Welfare

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of the effect on animal welfare of keeping pigs in  (a) very large herds and  (b) herds kept largely under a roof;
	(2)  what her policy is on intensive pig farming;
	(3)  what recent assessment she has made of health and welfare standards applicable to large-scale pig farms in which pigs are housed indoors all year round;
	(4)  what assessment she has made of the implications for animal welfare of proposed large-scale intensive pig farms;
	(5)  what her policy is on proposals to establish large-scale intensive pig farms.

James Paice: Operational pig farms must comply with all the relevant legislation, including comprehensive environmental and animal welfare legislation, which will apply equally to all livestock farms whatever the size of unit or system of production. Planning proposals for intensive pig farming units are for the relevant planning authorities to examine.
	It is important to recognise that poor welfare may occur in both intensive and extensive systems. Increasing the size of herds does not mean reducing animal welfare. More important factors are the design and construction of the units and the level of stockmanship. This is echoed in the current scientific advice from the Farm Animal Welfare Council, that the most significant influence on the welfare of livestock is the stock-keeper, not the system in which it is reared.
	DEFRA has not made any further assessment of the implications for animal welfare of proposed large-scale intensive pig farms.

Pigs: Animal Welfare

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the effect of intensive pig farms on (i) traditional pig farmers, (ii) local rural economies and (iii) rural management.

James Paice: DEFRA has not commissioned or evaluated any specific research into these aspects of intensive indoor pig production. There is, however, ongoing research into other aspects, including animal welfare. The UK pig industry has some of the highest standards of animal welfare within the European Union.
	In line with the progressive reform of the common agricultural policy, it is important for the UK pig sector to compete globally. We therefore welcome innovative and entrepreneurial efforts by farmers to improve their competitiveness while protecting the environment and meeting animal welfare standards. Pig farms must comply with all the relevant legislation, including comprehensive environmental and animal welfare legislation, whatever the size of unit or system of production.

Pigs: Animal Welfare

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that future proposals for intensive pig farming  (a) are examined by her Department,  (b) take account of the views of local residents and  (c) do not adversely affect the natural environment.

James Paice: Planning proposals for intensive pig farming units are for the relevant planning authorities to examine. In the assessment of planning applications for agriculture development proposals, it is a matter for the relevant planning authority to take account of the views of local residents and the natural environment.

River Thames: Tunnels

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the value for money of the Thames Water proposal for the construction of a second Thames tunnel;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the environmental effects of the Thames Water proposal for the construction of a second Thames tunnel;
	(3)  what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of a second Thames tunnel;
	(4)  what recent assessment she has made of the merits of a second Thames tunnel to reduce the number of sewer overflows into the River Thames.

Richard Benyon: I refer my hon. Friend to my written statement of 7 September 2010,  Official Report, columns 9-10WS regarding sewer overflows in the River Thames. Since that statement in support of a tunnel-based solution to the problem of excessive sewer overflows into the Thames, we have been working with Ofwat to scrutinise and review the costs of the project to ensure that it continues to represent value for money. I intend to publish an updated impact assessment which will review the costs and benefits of the project in the summer.
	This Department also published a draft National Policy Statement (NPS) for Waste Water in November 2010, which sets out the Government's policy for the provision of major waste water infrastructure, including the Thames Tunnel. The NPS is accompanied by an Appraisal of Sustainability and a Habitats Regulation Assessment, both of which consider the potential environmental impacts of the Thames Tunnel. The public consultation closes on 22 February and the documents can be found on DEFRA's website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/waste-water/index.htm

River Thames: Tunnels

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with  (a) Thames Water,  (b) the Environment Agency and  (c) Ofwat on the (i) design, (ii) regulatory process and (iii) planning process for the construction of a second Thames tunnel.

Richard Benyon: Ministers have regular discussions with water companies (including Thames Water), the Environment Agency and Ofwat on a range of issues, including the Thames tunnel. Officials have been working closely with all three organisations to take forward the commitment in my written statement to the House of 7 September 2010,  Official Report, columns 9-10WS, that I would want to be assured before construction starts that any final proposal delivers proper value for money

Sewers: EU Law

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the UK's capacity to meet its obligations in Greater London under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.

Richard Benyon: The five year 'Thames Tideway Strategic Study' reported to Government in 2005 and included an assessment of potential solutions both to meet water quality objectives for the Thames Tideway area, and to ensure the requirements of the urban waste water treatment directive continue to be met. It concluded that the frequency and volume of discharges of untreated waste water from combined sewer overflows into the River Thames should be reduced.
	I refer my hon. Friend to my written statement of 7 September 2010,  Official Report, columns 9-10WS, regarding sewer overflows in the River Thames, which confirmed the Government's support for a tunnel-based solution to the problems in the Thames.

Water: Employment

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department  (a) has undertaken and  (b) plans to undertake any studies on the effects of the Asset Management Period cycle on levels of employment within the water industry and its supply chain; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator for the water sector, is responsible for setting water price limits every five years. Within this framework, water and sewerage companies are responsible for decisions on how they manage their investment programme.
	The water industry has provided evidence on the effect of Ofwat's price controls to the current review of Ofwat, led by David Gray. This review will report to Ministers in March.
	Ofwat itself is currently reviewing the process of price setting as part of the Future Price Limits project. This project will look at the effects of the regulatory cycles on all stakeholders, including those in the supply chain.

Wood

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to implement the provisions of the EU Illegal Timber (Due Diligence) Regulation.

James Paice: In accordance with the provisions of Regulation, we will implement the EU Illegal Timber (Due Diligence) Regulation by 3 March 2013. Over the next 18 months, detailed implementing regulations must be agreed between the European Commission and member states. This timeline was agreed to allow both governments and the timber industry across member states sufficient time to prepare for the entry into force of the Regulation.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Departmental Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what single tender contracts his Department has awarded since his appointment; and what the monetary value is of each contract above the EU public procurement threshold.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has let the following contracts using the Single Tender Procedure with only the last one listed being in excess of the EU public procurement threshold. As a Research and Development project it is exempt from the full EU Procurement Rules; the monetary value of the project is £210,000.
	 Below EU threshold
	1. Aggregating, presenting and valuing the impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
	2. National Energy Efficiency Database (NEED) data loading services
	3. Provision of database containing information on retail filling stations
	4. Stakeholder Engagement Policy/Project Team Support Package
	5. DECC Emergency Response Exercise Programme
	6. Contribution to three IEA Annexes on Heat Pumps
	7. International Climate Change Consultant
	8. Electronic Radar Tool to Support Permitted Development for Micro/Small Wind
	9. Technical advisory, assessment and verification services-ETF Offshore Wind Grants scheme
	10. National Energy Efficiency Database (NEED) Valuation Office Agency Property Data Analysis
	11. DECC contribution to 2nd year of EST Heat Pump Field Trials
	12. Update of renewable heat model
	13. UK Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory Improvement Programme.

Electricity: Meters

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the number of households that have been prevented from changing from paying their electricity costs by pre-payment meter to an alternative means of payment as a result of deposit charges;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on the number of families that have paid deposit charges in order to change the payment of their electricity costs from a pre-payment meter to an alternative means of payment.

Charles Hendry: DECC does not hold the information requested. To meet its principal duty to protect the interests of consumers, Ofgem collects relevant information on prepayment meter customers but I understand it does not have the specific data requested.
	Under their supply licence, energy suppliers must not require a customer to pay a security deposit if it is unreasonable in all the circumstances of the case. The licence also requires that a security deposit must not exceed a reasonable amount. Customers opting to pay by prepayment meter must not be required to pay a deposit.

Electricity: Wind Power

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what contribution energy from wind power generation made to the electricity supply during December 2010.

Charles Hendry: DECC publishes data on electricity generation from all sources, including wind power, on a quarterly basis. Figures for the last quarter of 2010, which will show the proportion of electrical energy supplied by all UK wind generation, will be published in March. DECC's latest quarterly figures show that in Q3 2010 all UK wind farms contributed 3.5% of UK electricity generation.
	Just under half of all UK wind capacity is operationally metered by national grid to assist in balancing the system. From this data, in December 2010, operationally metered wind generation contributed 1.1% of electrical energy supplied through the national grid. Given that less than half of total UK wind capacity is operationally metered, this percentage will significantly under-state DECC's final figure for wind's share of all generation in Q4 2010, due to be published on 31 March 2011.

Energy: Housing

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to increase the energy efficiency of  (a) social rented,  (b) housing association and  (c) private rented homes; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Green Deal has the potential to increase the energy efficiency of homes across all housing sectors. It will enable a range of innovative energy efficiency finance packages for landlords and tenants alike.
	The social housing sector, including housing associations, has made the biggest gains in energy efficiency in recent years. Further to this, the sector will be able to benefit from the Green Deal and associated obligation on energy companies.
	The private rented sector will also be able to take advantage of the Green Deal and future obligation on energy companies. In addition, we are seeking powers in the forthcoming Energy Bill that, from 2015, could require landlords to make reasonable energy efficiency improvements to their properties. These powers will only be used if we do not see voluntary improvements under the forthcoming Green Deal.

Energy: Regulation

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received from Ofgem on the extent of their powers to regulate tariffs and prices in the domestic energy supply sector.

Charles Hendry: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not received any such representations. Ofgem's principal duty is to protect the interests of consumers and it has wide discretion to propose modifications to the licences of energy companies to achieve this.

Fuel Oil: Prices

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the effects of recent changes in the price of heating oil on elderly and vulnerable families in rural areas.

Gregory Barker: Government acknowledge that heating oil prices have risen and will lead to higher energy bills for households that use it. Heating oil is a seasonal product, and its prices vary over the course of the year.
	The Government are committed to helping those households that are in fuel poverty. We recognise the need to help more of the most vulnerable to keep their homes warm at an affordable cost.
	From April 2011, the Warm Home Discount policy will require energy suppliers to provide financial support with energy bills to more of the most vulnerable and fuel poor households. The total level of support under the scheme will be up to £250 million in 2011-12 rising to up to £310 million in 2014-15. We launched a consultation on the Warm Home Discount on 2 December which focuses on the detailed structure of the support scheme, including who should be eligible for assistance and how they will be targeted.
	From 2013, support for heating and insulation for the most vulnerable will be delivered through the Green Deal for energy efficiency and a new supplier obligation on energy companies. The Green Deal is a key element of our policy to improve household energy efficiency. It will help protect people against price rises through greater energy saving, with special support for the most vulnerable.

Heating

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many new ground source heat exchange pumps were commissioned in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007,  (d) 2008 and  (e) 2009.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not hold information on the overall number of ground-source heat pumps (GSHP) fitted in the UK. These works are carried out by private contractors who have no obligation to inform the Government.
	Under the previous Government grant programme, (Low Carbon Buildings Programme), the following numbers of ground-source heat pumps grants were awarded for properties between 2005-09.
	
		
			   Number of grants  Value of grants (£) 
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 19 22,800 
			 2007 202 343,584 
			 2008 255 1,530,012 
			 2009 374 3,203,397 
			 Total 850 5,099,793

Methane: Natural Gas

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has made a recent assessment of the  (a) legislative,  (b) regulatory and  (c) guidance framework for the safe exploration of (i) coalbed methane and (ii) shale gas as an energy source.

Chris Grayling: I have been asked to reply.
	HSE has regulatory responsibility for the safety of these activities and so as Minister responsible for Health and Safety I am providing a response to this question. For all UK oil and gas exploration and development activities, including coal bed methane and shale gas, there is a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure that operations are properly licensed and controlled. This includes regulations administered by the Health and Safety Executive, who deal with the process safety aspects of this work. These include the Offshore Installations and Wells (Design and Construction, etc) Regulations 1996 (DCR), which are concerned with the integrity of the well for its full lifecycle. The Health and Safety Executive also gives advice to industry on how to comply with these safety regulations. Legislation, regulatory inspection programmes and guidance are kept under review and adapted where necessary to take account of new technologies and industry practices, and new knowledge on hazards and risks.

Nuclear Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (PUSS) to House of Lords Grand Committee,  Official Report, column GC176, on the draft National Policy Statement for Nuclear Generation, when the review of nuclear policy referred to was commissioned; if he will publish the report of the review; which body is assisting the PUSS in his conduct of the review; whether the review was put out for tender; whether any upper limit was placed on the cost of conducting the review; and when he expects to receive the report of the review.

Charles Hendry: Security arrangements are kept under constant review as part of a continuous process to ensure existing arrangements are robust and effective.
	I hope the hon. Member will understand that the need to ensure national security means that there are inevitably restrictions on what the Government can say publicly about certain matters relating to various aspects of the national security framework.

Warm Front Scheme

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent assessment his Department has made of the performance of Eaga plc in managing the Warm Front scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Department has Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in place to monitor Eaga's performance in managing Warm Front delivery. Regular meetings are held at which performance against KPIs is reviewed. These reviews have shown that over the past three years Eaga have largely met their KPIs. In addition, the Department has engaged WYG, independent consultants and quality assessors, to audit Eaga's performance. Findings from these reviews are published on the DECC website:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/consumers/fuel_poverty/warm_front/vfm/vfm.aspx

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Big Society Initiative

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what role he expects civic societies to play as potential capacity builders in support of the Big Society initiative.

Andrew Stunell: The Government's Big Society agenda envisages a significantly enhanced role for civil society, including the voluntary, community .and social enterprise sectors, in helping local people and organisations to take more power and responsibility over their lives and neighbourhoods. As part of this, civic societies can play an essential voluntary role in helping individuals to take action to improve the quality of their life through the place where they live.
	They will have an important role to play in helping communities develop skills, in designing and delivering services, and encouraging communities to take advantage of far-reaching new rights contained in the Localism Bill, such as the Right to Buy community assets and the Right to Challenge the way public services are run.
	In recognition of this role, my Department has provided a transitional grant to Civic Voice, the national umbrella organisation for civic societies. This transitional grant will support Civic Voice to help bridge the gap to self-funding to enable the movement build the momentum of support required to put it onto a self-reliant and sustainable footing and support the Government's goal of building a Big Society.

Departmental Communications

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he has taken to reduce jargon and promote plain English in departmental communications.

Bob Neill: The use of clear language is essential if people are to understand and influence Government policy. My Department aims to use straightforward language as a matter of course. In recent months, the Department has published plain English guides to the Local Government Finance Settlement and to the Localism Bill. It has begun a review of over 1,000 pages of cumbersome planning policy statements and guidance with the aim of producing a single, concise document setting out the Government's priorities for the planning system in England.
	We are also seeking to minimise the use of TLAs (three letter abbreviations) in our communications.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many meals at venues outside his Department have been provided from the public purse for  (a) each Minister in his Department and  (b) guests of his Department since 6 May 2010.

Bob Neill: No taxpayers' money has been spent on such items since 6 May.
	In comparison, £2,400 was spent on meals at venues outside the Department at events involving DCLG Ministers in the final two years of the previous Administration.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on film production including the filming of speeches since May 2010.

Bob Neill: All film production has been carried out internally by staff in the Department's Communications Directorate and no spend has been made with any external production company.
	The zero spend with external production companies since May 2010 compares with spend of £42,742 in 2008-09 and £144,660.50 in 2009-10.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on wine since May 2010.

Bob Neill: Since May 2010 the Department has spent £796.55 on wine through its facilities management supplier.
	Wine was supplied in connection with official functions and the expenditure has been incurred in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety.
	To assist the hon. Member to place this in context records are only available from December 2008 but for the periods December 2008 to March 2009 the Department spent £1,584.85 and from April 2009 until March 2010 spent £3,932.80 on wine at official functions.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much his Department has spent on newspapers and magazines since May 2010.

Bob Neill: Departmental records show that the Department has spent £67,435 on newspapers and magazines with its preferred suppliers since May 2010.
	Since May 2010, the Department has consolidated the seven separate sets of national newspapers previously received by the ministerial and special adviser offices to a single shared set of papers, delivering over £15,000 of ongoing revenue savings.
	In addition, the Department's Communications Directorate has undertaken a review that has led to a reduction in the number of magazines and journals it subscribes to and a move to a single supplier, realising further annual savings of approximately £6,000.
	For the last two financial years the Department spent the following:
	2008-09: £136,892
	2009-10: £113,308.

Departmental Responsibilities

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which new  (a) units and  (b) teams have been established in his Department since May 2010; and what the (i) name, (ii) purpose, (iii) staffing level and (iv) annual running cost of each is.

Bob Neill: Two new teams have been established since 1 May 2010.
	The Digital Delivery and Transparency team delivers the corporate transparency action plan via the Public Data and Transparency programme board, and develops policy on local government transparency, local spending reports and digital delivery agenda. There were 8.2 (full time equivalent) staff in post in this team at the end of December. The annual running costs over the full 12 months is next year forecast to be £554,000. Online transparency has the potential to deliver real and tangible saving to the public purse.
	The London Team has ownership of London reforms generally including elements within the Localism Bill and management of London-inspired Private Bills. It is the central point of co-ordination for relationships with the GLA, London councils and other agencies where necessary, and it also holds responsibility for DCLG's locally focussed business in London. There were 6.4 (full time equivalent) staff in post in this team at the end of December. The annual running costs over the full 12 months is next year forecast to be £382,000. Its creation should be taken in the context of the abolition of the Government Office for London, which will decentralise power and save taxpayers' money.
	DCLG is currently undergoing a major restructuring exercise to focus on meeting the needs of the new government. This restructuring as well the creation of the new teams described above has not involved the recruitment of any new staff to the civil service and therefore no overall addition to public cost.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the most recent previous employment was of senior staff employed on fixed-term contracts in his Department since May 2010.

Bob Neill: Since May 2010, no new fixed-term appointments of any staff, including senior civil servants, have been made.

Departmental Temporary Employment

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) total salary cost and  (b) average salary is of staff employed on fixed-term contracts in his Department.

Bob Neill: The total salary and average salary costs of staff employed on fixed-term contracts, as at 31 December 2010, in the Department for Communities and Local Government are as follows:
	Total salary costs: £1,138,313
	Number of staff: 40
	Average (mean) salary: £28,458.

Departmental Temporary Employment

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many staff are employed on fixed-term contracts in his Department; and what their job titles are.

Bob Neill: As at 31 December 2010 the Department for Communities and Local Government employed 40 staff (38.8 FTE) on fixed-term contracts. A breakdown of their job titles is detailed as follows:
	24 Administrative Officers
	One Chief Fire & Rescue Adviser
	Three Departmental Advisers (0.8 FTE)
	Five Executive and Higher Executive Officers
	Seven Legal and Statistical Officers
	As I outlined in my answer to the hon. Member in relation to PQ 34300, these appointments and contracts were made during the last administration.

Faithwise Ltd: Contracts

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's consultancy contract with Faithwise Ltd.

Bob Neill: A copy of the original contract, and of its extension to 1 January 2010, has been placed in the Library of the House. The contract was further extended by agreement until 31 March 2010.

Fire Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many fire stations have closed in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: Numbers of fire station closures are not held centrally. However total numbers of fire stations are collected for each fire and rescue authority annually. The latest available figures show that the total number of fire stations in England on 31 March 2010 was 1,433, unchanged from 2009.

Fire Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will review the proposed timetable for savings to be made by local fire services; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: We have back-loaded the largest savings in formula grant to the latter years in order to give fire and rescue authorities time to make the necessary changes without affecting the quality and breadth of services they provide to their communities. Overall, single purpose fire and rescue authorities will see a reduction in their revenue spending power, taking into account grants from central Government and council tax of 2.2% in 2011-12 and 0.5% in 2012-13.
	The setting of budgets and the delivery of fire services are a local matter, determined by individual fire and rescue authorities.

Fire Services: Canvey Island

Rebecca Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the effectiveness of the planned reconfiguration of fire services on Canvey Island.

Bob Neill: Operational decisions are taken by individual fire and rescue authorities as part of the integrated risk management planning process.
	The Government are committed to enabling local authorities and local communities to make appropriate decisions at the local level. Fire and rescue authorities are required by the fire and rescue service national framework to have in place and maintain an integrated risk management plan which reflects local need and sets out plans to tackle effectively both existing and potential risks to communities. Each fire and rescue authority's plan enables that individual authority to decide how best to provide fire and rescue services, including prevention and protection as well as response, with resources being allocated on the basis of their evaluation of risk and where the risks are greatest. It is a requirement that the plan is subject to a full consultation with the local community before it is agreed and published, and if it is substantially revised.
	Local requirements are thus determined by local people according to local circumstances.
	For those reasons, it would be inappropriate for central Government to make an assessment of any changes to fire and rescue services on Canvey Island.

Fire Services: Hoaxes and False Alarms

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of calls attended by fire services arose from false alarms from  (a) automatic fire alarms and  (b) other alarms in the latest period for which figures are available.

Bob Neill: The latest statistics for  (a) automatic fire alarms (due to apparatus) and  (b) other false alarms in England for 2009-10(1) are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Fires, non-fire incidents and false fire alarms attended by Fire and Rescue Services in England, 2009-10( 1) 
			   Number of incidents  Percentage of grand total 
			 Grand total 669,185 100 
			
			 Total Fires 241,533 36 
			
			 Special Service (non-fire incidents) 142,527 21 
			
			 Fire false alarms 285,125 43 
			 Fire false alarm types:   
			 Automatic fire alarms (due to apparatus(2)) 193,394 29 
			 Good intent(3) 79,304 12 
			 Malicious(4) 12,427 2 
			 (1) Provisional. (2) Due to Apparatus-call was initiated by fire alarm and/or firefighting equipment operating (including accidental initiation of alarm apparatus by a person). (3) Good Intent-call was made in good faith in the belief that the fire and rescue service was needed to attend a fire. (4) Malicious-a report of an incident is received by a control centre which is believed to have been made with malicious intent or with intent to cause a nuisance and where it is considered that no legitimate incident exists.  Source: Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics Databases, DCLG

Fire Services: Standards

Rebecca Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the likely effects of an increase of  (a) two minutes,  (b) five minutes and  (c) 10 minutes in the response time of the first fire appliance in the event of a fire at a top tier control of major hazards regulated site.

Bob Neill: Emergency response is a matter for individual fire and rescue authorities under integrated risk management planning, according to local requirements and circumstances. That will include a local assessment of the optimum response to fires at top tier control of major accidents hazards (COMAH) sites.

Fire Services: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will assess the ability of West Midlands Fire Service to maintain its standard of service to vulnerable communities after the outcome of the local government finance settlement; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: As the setting of budgets and the delivery of fire services are a local matter, determined by individual fire and rescue authorities, it would not be appropriate for central Government to assess west midlands service delivery.

Government: Assets

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has for enabling a  (a) community right to bid,  (b) community right to know and  (c) community right to buy in connection with assets owned by central Government; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Stunell: The community right to challenge (sometimes referred to as the community right to bid) and the community right to buy (as "assets of community value") are included in the Localism Bill. The community right to challenge enables voluntary and community bodies, parish councils and local authority employees to express an interest in running a local authority service, which may trigger a procurement exercise. We will consider what other services the right may be extended to in due course.
	Many of the details of the community right to buy scheme will be set out in regulations, on which we will shortly be consulting. It will give communities new powers to help them save local facilities threatened with closure by allowing local community groups, parish councils and others to nominate sites that are of particular value to the community. We will be consulting on what constitutes an asset of community value but it will include property owned by central Government, because the Bill provides that the scheme applies to the Crown. When a listed site comes up for sale, community groups will have a window of opportunity before a sale can take place, which they can use to prepare to bid for the site (eg by preparing a business case and raising funding). We envisage that the regulations will enable a local community group to enter a binding contract during the window of opportunity, giving an advantage over other potential purchasers.
	We want communities to be able to use these new rights effectively, and will shortly be consulting on what support may be needed to ensure this is the case.
	We are working towards making information on the central Government estate available to local people and communities, which will provide communities with information on public land so that they can hold land owners to account. The reform will enable communities to have greater influence in shaping the future of their areas.

Homelessness

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of people who are homeless in  (a) England,  (b) Hertfordshire and  (c) St Albans constituency.

Grant Shapps: Tables have been placed in the Library of the House providing the number of households accepted as owed the main homelessness duty during the July to September quarter 2010, the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of September 2010 and rough sleeping figures for 2010, by local authority and county in England.
	The data are not collected at constituency level. St Albans constituency is made up of electoral wards in St Albans and Three Rivers.
	Information about local authorities' discharge of their duties under homelessness legislation is collected on quarterly PIE returns. Summary information about English local housing authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected at local authority level, and published by the Department in the quarterly Statistical Release on Statutory Homelessness, available both in the Library of the House and via the DCLG website:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/homelessnessstatistics/publicationshomelessness/
	Data collected include the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to ensure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available and this information is also collected.
	Information is also collected on rough sleeping. Since 1998, only councils in areas with a known, or suspected, rough sleeping problem were required to conduct an official rough sleeper count-which meant that only 70 councils submitted information to central Government. Figures published in July 2010 showed that under this previous method, on any given night there were 440 rough sleepers in England. However, the coalition Government wanted a more complete measure of rough sleeping and when the remaining 256 councils provided estimates of the scale of the problem in their areas, this added a further estimated 807 rough sleepers-taking the national total to 1,247 rough sleepers on any given night.
	Rough sleeping figures are published by the Department on the DCLG website and are given by local authority in the table at the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/xls/1648099.xls
	Under new guidance all councils across England will now provide information on rough sleeping. This move follows consultation with homelessness charities and councils and is aimed at getting a clearer picture of the scale of the problem in each area so more targeted support can be provided to some of the most vulnerable in society.

Housing: Construction

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many units were built as part of each publicly-funded affordable housing scheme in Reading West constituency in each of the last 13 years; and how many such units in each scheme are reserved for key workers.

Andrew Stunell: The following table shows the number of new build affordable homes delivered through the Homes and Communities Agency's National Affordable Housing Programme in the Reading local authority area for each of the last 13 years and of these those which were specifically targeted at key workers. This information is not collected by parliamentary constituency.
	
		
			   National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP)( 1)  NAHP of which: key worker initiative 
			 1997-98 130 0 
			 1998-99 250 0 
			 1999-2000 60 0 
			 2000-01 60 0 
			 2001-02 120 0 
			 2002-03 160 0 
			 2003-04 120 0 
			 2004-05 310 20 
			 2005-06 220 130 
			 2006-07 140 30 
			 2007-08 360 70 
			 2008-09 170 10 
			 2009-10 80 0 
			 (1) Includes homes built for social rented and affordable home ownership.  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 homes.  Source: Homes and Communities Agency 
		
	
	The National Affordable Housing Programme provided funding for affordable home ownership schemes targeted at first time buyers who met the eligibility criteria, i.e. household income up to £60,000 and unable to buy on the open market. Between 2004-05 and 2008-09 there were specific schemes targeted towards assisting key workers into home ownership. From 2008-09 this specific ring fence was removed with all schemes being open to all first time buyers who met the eligibility criteria.
	Not all affordable housing is provided through new build completions as supply can also come from the acquisition and refurbishment of private sector homes. In 2009-10, for example, a total of 150 affordable homes were provided in Reading through new build, acquisition and refurbishment.

Housing: Homelessness

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many households were placed in private rented accommodation under the prevention and relief of homelessness provisions  (a) in England and Wales and  (b) in each English local authority area in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) the first two quarters of 2010-11.

Grant Shapps: In 2009-10, 50,720 households in England were placed in private rented accommodation by local authorities and partner organisations through their prevention and relief activities outside of the statutory homelessness framework. This includes activities involving landlord incentive schemes or activities without, such as where a local authority has built a relationship with a landlord or letting agent which enables the authority to refer households on benefit direct or on a specific accreditation scheme.
	A table has been placed in the Library of the House providing the information for all local authorities.
	Figures relating to the first two quarters of 2010-11 will not be available until the 'Homelessness Prevention and Relief: England 2010-11' release is published later in the year.
	DCLG only holds figures for England. Figures for Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government.

Local Government Services

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to communities that wish to take over services operated by local authorities.

Andrew Stunell: No such guidance has been issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Subject to parliamentary approval of the Localism Bill, communities will be given a right to challenge a local authority by expressing an interest in running any service for which it is responsible. The Department for Communities and Local Government will be working closely with local authorities and the voluntary and community sector to determine what guidance may be necessary to support the Community Right to Challenge.

Local Government: Redundancy

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has made an estimate of the number of local council employees who will be made redundant as a result of the reductions in funding for local authorities in the first year of the comprehensive spending review period.

Bob Neill: It is for individual councils to make local decisions about how their workforces are organised and managed to ensure it can deliver for local taxpayers, within the resources they have available. Decisions about managing workforce reductions in local government are rightfully for individual councils to make as employers.

Local Government: Standards

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to enable local authorities to retain a local standards committee if they wish to do so.

Bob Neill: holding answer 20 January 2011
	The Localism Bill currently before Parliament includes provision that local authorities must maintain high standards of conduct by local authority members and co-opted members.
	It is for local authorities to determine for themselves how best to maintain high standards of conduct and local authorities will be free, if they so wish, to establish standards committees.
	Members will be required to continue to register and declare personal interests and will not be allowed to use their position improperly for personal gain. The Government intend that wilful failure to comply with these requirements will constitute a criminal offence.

Mayors

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  if he will commission an independent review of the effectiveness of elected mayors; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will commission an independent review of the effectiveness of the Leader and Cabinet model of local authorities; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will commission an independent review of the effectiveness of the committee system for running local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: We have no plans to commission such independent reviews.
	A number of research papers and reviews on council governance models have already been published, and regard can be had to these when decisions on a council's future governance arrangements are taken.

Mobility: Expenditure

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate his Department has made of less expenditure by local authorities on meeting the mobility needs of under-65s living in residential care in the latest period for which figures are available.

Andrew Stunell: The information requested is not held centrally.

Multiple Occupation: Crime

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 5 July 2010,  Official Report, column 89W, on multiple occupation: licensing, if he will assess the cost of collecting information from local authorities on how many landlords have been prosecuted under legislative provisions governing the operation of houses in multiple occupation.

Andrew Stunell: As stated in my answer of 5 July 2010,  Official Report, column 89W, information about how many landlords have been prosecuted under the legislative provisions governing the operation of houses in multiple occupation is not held centrally. The Department has no plans to begin collecting this information or to assess the cost of collection.
	The Government remain committed to the goal of reducing the burdens of data reporting requirements on local government.

Playgrounds: Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department provides to local authorities for the purposes of maintaining playgrounds; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: Formula grant is an unhypothecated block grant i.e. authorities are free to spend it on any service. For this reason, and due to the method of calculating formula grant, particularly floor damping, it is not possible to say how much grant has been provided for any particular service, including maintaining playgrounds.

Recreation Spaces

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans he has to provide protection for urban green spaces.

Bob Neill: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Minister for Decentralisation, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) on 17 January 2011,  Official Report, column 534.

Referendum: Neighbourhood Planning

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the cost of holding a referendum related to neighbourhood planning; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: We will be publishing an impact assessment on our neighbourhood plan proposals in due course which will outline how the changes will increase sustainable development and deliver monetised benefits to local authorities and developers.

Solar Power: Planning Permission

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will discuss with the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change changes to planning guidance for the purposes of preventing building that would have the effect of blocking light from reaching photovoltaic cell arrays fitted to existing properties; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: National planning policy on climate change already encourages planning authorities to consider the impact of new building on existing properties so as to avoid prejudicing their renewable energy supply. We are working with the Department for Energy and Climate Change and other Departments on the new national planning policy framework. This will cover all forms of development and set out the Government's national economic, environmental and social priorities, including climate change.

Voluntary Organisations: Barnsley

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with Barnsley metropolitan borough council on  (a) local authority funding for the voluntary sector in Barnsley East constituency and  (b) implementation of the Government's Big Society initiative.

Bob Neill: The Department for Communities and Local Government has had no direct discussions with Barnsley metropolitan council on funding for the voluntary sector.
	We are supporting Barnsley to develop a small area budget and Local Integrated Services approach in Thurnscoe, which will give residents more influence and control over their local public services. This is part of the Government's work to develop Community Budgets.
	In December 2010 the Kendray Initiative, based in Barnsley, was awarded the Prime Minister's Big Society Award in recognition of their work to transform the local community.
	An officer from Barnsley took part in a roundtable discussion on the development and implementation of decentralisation in Leeds on 20 December 2010. This was an event for councils across Yorkshire and Humberside.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many  (a) women and  (b) men he has appointed to public duties since May 2010;
	(2)  what public appointments he has made since his appointment; and to what payments each person so appointed is entitled.

Nicholas Clegg: I have made 14 unpaid public appointments (including one joint appointment with the Prime Minister) since May 2010. Details of these appointments can be found on
	http://www.dpm.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news
	and
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Departmental Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what single tender contracts the Government Equalities Office has awarded since her appointment; and what the monetary value is of each contract above the EU public procurement threshold.

Lynne Featherstone: The following single tender contracts have been awarded by the Government Equalities Office since 12 May 2010:
	
		
			  Supplier  Nature of contract awarded 
			 Citizen's Advice Bureau (1) Production of guides, distribution and associated training to support the implementation of the Equality Act 2010 
			 British Chambers of Commerce (1)- 
			 Equality and Diversity Forum (1)- 
			 Queen's Counsel Legal Advice 
			 (1) Indicates a brace. 
		
	
	The monetary value of the contracts was below the EU public procurement threshold.

Departmental Public Appointments

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities how many  (a) women and  (b) men have been appointed to public duties by the Government Equalities Office since May 2010.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office has made no public appointments since May 2010.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Servants: Business Interests

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department publishes a register of interests for the Civil Service.

Francis Maude: The "Civil Service Management Code" requires civil servants to declare to their department any relevant interests which they would be able to further as a result of their official duties.
	Relevant interests for civil servants who are members of departmental management boards are available as part of a Department's annual report and accounts.

Departmental Working Conditions

Mike Freer: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his Department's policy is on  (a) the space provided per employee,  (b) home working and  (c) hot desking; how many employees it has on average per desk; and how much space on average there is per employee.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office is working towards achieving a space allocation per employee (full-time equivalent) of 10 sq m. The Cabinet Office supports measures to improve work/life balance, including flexible working. Flexible working incorporates a wide variety of working patterns. Home working policies and the provision of access to communications while staff are working at home support this commitment. Hot desking is not currently adopted formally across the Department although as part of an ongoing estate rationalisation programme this is expected to be rolled out more widely. Information on the number of employees on average per desk is not held but information on office space utilisation in the Cabinet Office (including on space per full-time equivalent) is available in the annual State of the Estate Reports
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/efficiency_documents_better_asset_management.asp

Lone Parents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of families with children were headed by a single parent in each  (a) local authority area and  (b) constituency in each year for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated January 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your request to ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what proportion of families with children were headed by a single parent in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency in each year for which figures are available. (35797)
	The number and type of families in areas of the UK can be estimated using the Annual Population Survey (APS). Data are available for 2004 to 2009. As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty which increases as the size of the geography presented becomes smaller. As a result year on year fluctuations do not necessarily represent a significant change in the true estimate.
	Lone parent families with at least one dependent child as a percentage of all families with at least one dependent child are shown in the attached tables. A lone parent family is a lone parent living with his or her never-married children, providing that these children have no partners or children of their own living with them. Dependent children are children living with their parent(s) aged under 16, or aged 16 to 18 in full-time education.
	Copies of Tables 1-3 have been placed in the House of Commons Library.
	Table 1 shows the data by local authority for 2004 to 2009; Table 2 shows the data for 2004 to 2008 based on 2005 parliamentary constituency boundaries; and Table 3 shows the data for 2009 based on 2010 parliamentary constituency boundaries. Tables 2 and 3 are not directly comparable due to boundary changes.

NDPBs: Finance

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the budget is of each non-departmental public body in the current financial year.

Francis Maude: Information on the size, spend and Government funding of the non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) sector is published in the annual Cabinet Office publication "Public Bodies". The latest published data show that as at 31 March 2009 there were 766 NDPBs. These spent over £46 billion, of which over £38 billion was directly funded by the Government. Data for 2010 will be published shortly. More detailed information is published in Departments' reports on the NDPBs which they sponsor and in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether as part of its review of non-departmental public bodies, he plans to publish details on how the Cabinet Office's tests have been applied to all public bodies that are still under review.

Francis Maude: I plan to release an update to my written ministerial statement of 14 October 2010,  Official Report, column 26WS, in due course.

Public Bodies

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what criteria apply in connection with his Department's review of public bodies.

Francis Maude: The coalition Government are committed to increasing the accountability of public bodies, and this involves reducing their number and their cost to the taxpayer.
	To take this work forward, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury worked closely with Departments to look at all public bodies to make decisions about whether the functions they carry out should continue. Where it was decided that a function should continue, we applied three tests in order to assess whether it should continue to be carried out by a pubic body:
	does that body perform a technical function?
	does it need to be politically impartial?
	does it act independently to establish facts?

Public Sector: Redundancy

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will estimate the proportion of those made redundant in the public sector during the comprehensive spending review period who will be aged 50 or over at the time of being made redundant; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published, as part of the "Economic and Fiscal Outlook" on 29 November 2010, projections for general government employment to 2015-16, which can be found at:
	http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/d/econ_fiscal_outlook_291110.pdf
	The OBR has not published forecasts for individual age groups. It will be for individual employers to determine the exact work force implications of their settlements.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward proposals to assist employers to take on apprentices in North Swindon constituency.

John Hayes: We are committed to expanding the apprenticeship programme nationally and we are determined to make it easier for employers of all sizes and in all regions to take on apprentices. In England, we have increased funding for apprenticeships to over £1.4 billion in the 2011-12 financial year to train over 300,000 apprentices (at all ages).
	As part of National Apprenticeship Week, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) are supporting the Plan 500* initiative, which seeks to improve employer engagement across Swindon. As part of this initiative they are supporting the Swindon business show to encourage employers to take on apprentices, and making some 150 apprenticeship vacancies available to young people in the area who are not in education, employment or training. NAS are also working with Business Link to promote a 'Meet the Apprentice' event and working with the local Apprenticeship Training Association (South West Apprenticeship Company (SWAC) to assist local employers to take on apprentices in the Swindon area.

Driving Instruction: Qualifications

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many professional and career development loans were made to students resident in each local authority area to facilitate study for national vocational qualifications or other qualifications to obtain registration on the Approved Driving Instructor Register in each of the last five years.

David Willetts: holding answer 24 January 2011
	The Department does not hold specific information in relation to the breakdown of Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDL) per local authority area, or the type of qualification undertaken with a PCDL to achieve an approved driving instructor qualification. Current available data over the last five years, including take-up in Scotland, illustrate that around 900 loans were accessed in pursuit of driving instructor courses. This is broken down by calendar years as:
	2006: 554;
	2007: 191;
	2008: 42;
	2009: 37; and
	2010: 55.
	There are no specific national vocational qualifications or other qualifications which lead to registration on the Approved Driving Instructor Register. To register, applicants must pass the Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) exams.

Email: Spam

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department is taking steps to tackle fraudulent spam emails claiming to be from the Student Loans Company.

David Willetts: The Student Loans Company (SLC) is very concerned about its customers receiving fraudulent emails. The SLC is proactive in alerting all its customers to be vigilant when receiving emails requesting personal information which claim to be from the SLC. This activity is known as phishing.
	As well as alerting customers to phishing activity on their website, the SLC has issued press releases in an attempt to heighten awareness and encourage vigilance.
	SLC encourage customers to forward all phishing emails to them so that they can arrange the closure of the sites. This is typically achieved within 24 hours. Since July 2010, the SLC has taken action that led to 62 phishing sites being closed down.

Employment: Emergency Services

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will introduce incentives to encourage employers to hire and retain employees who also work  (a) as retained duty system firefighters,  (b) as special constables and  (c) in other roles in support of emergency services.

Edward Davey: We do not provide specific incentives to encourage the employment of retained duty firefighters, special constables and others in similar roles. The Government values greatly the contribution of firefighters employed on the retained duty system. An employers' information toolkit and an employers' recognition scheme have been provided (in 2009 and 2010 respectively) to support the Fire and Rescue Service in building links with the local business community and encouraging the release of staff for the retained duty system.
	The Government also values greatly the work of special constables and is looking at a range of ways in which to encourage more people to volunteer as special constables. We encourage employers to take on people who are also involved in supporting and protecting their local community, as part of this Government's big society agenda.

Fashion

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the main areas of  (a) strength and  (b) weakness of the fashion industry.

Edward Vaizey: I have been asked to reply.
	I have not made any specific assessment of the main areas of strength and weakness of the fashion industry. However, the British Fashion Council has recently published the Value of Fashion report which shows that fashion makes a significant contribution to the UK economy and confirms British fashion's status as one of our most important creative industries.
	Potential opportunities and barriers to growth in this sector will be considered as part of the digital and creative industries growth review.

Higher Education: Admissions

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many  (a) successful and  (b) unsuccessful applicants to university from (i) Hastings and Rye constituency, (ii) Hastings borough council area, (iii) East Sussex, (iv) the south east and (v) England were from each socio-economic background in each of the last five years.

David Willetts: Data by socio-economic background are not available for each of the years requested. Therefore, applicants are split by participation of local areas (POLAR) quintiles.
	Applicants who were not accepted for entry can include:
	individuals who did not receive any offer;
	individuals who received an offer (conditional or unconditional) but decided not to go to university;
	individuals who received a conditional offer and failed to meet the specific conditions (e.g. they did not achieve certain grades); and
	individuals who decided to withdraw from the UCAS system.
	
		
			  Accepted applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in UK institutions via UCAS by area background( 1) , 2006/07 to 2010/11 
			  Geographical area  Area background  POLAR2 quintile  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010 
			 Hastings and Rye constituency Disadvantaged - 181 209 219 249 234 
			  Other - 283 291 311 353 388 
			  Total  464 500 530 602 622 
			 
			 Hastings borough council Disadvantaged - 159 177 188 215 202 
			  Other - 218 224 252 282 315 
			  Total  377 401 440 497 517 
			 
			 East Sussex Disadvantaged 1 276 278 336 376 363 
			   2 511 545 617 658 654 
			  Other 3 650 712 817 842 839 
			   4 924 1,001 1,138 1,100 1,110 
			   5 309 285 363 328 358 
			   Unknown 18 22 14 16 36 
			  Total  2,688 2,843 3,285 3,320 3,360 
			 
			 South East Disadvantaged 1 2,896 3,222 3,539 3,868 4,006 
			   2 5,399 5,623 6,442 6,705 7,069 
			  Other 3 9,228 9,988 11,159 11,813 11,829 
			   4 13,116 14,030 15,228 15,765 16,271 
			   5 14,776 15,656 16,902 17,582 18,310 
			   Unknown 543 427 1,136 513 602 
			  Total  45,958 48,946 54,406 56,246 58,087 
			 
			 England Disadvantaged 1 37,187 40,369 47,260 51,245 51,208 
			   2 47,944 50,860 57,772 61,751 61,550 
			  Other 3 56,708 60,511 67,378 71,903 71,700 
			   4 69,329 73,595 79,765 84,091 83,995 
			   5 73,445 77,537 83,769 86,553 87,343 
			   Unknown 4,616 4,087 7,664 4,693 4,412 
			  Total  289,229 306,959 343,608 360,236 360,208 
		
	
	
		
			  Unplaced applicants to full-time undergraduate courses in UK institutions via UCAS by area background( 1)  2006/07 to 2010/11 
			  Geographical area  Area background  POLAR2 quintile  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010 
			 Hastings and Rye constituency Disadvantaged - 47 52 66 73 121 
			  Other - 73 80 90 143 175 
			  Total  120 130 156 216 296 
			 
			 Hastings borough council Disadvantaged - 36 46 60 60 103 
			  Other - 59 68 73 126 148 
			  Total  95 114 133 186 251 
			 
			 East Sussex Disadvantaged 1 81 109 108 141 190 
			   2 141 154 194 236 307 
			  Other 3 188 199 199 300 346 
			   4 241 245 279 328 398 
			   5 75 79 65 100 113 
			   Unknown 14 11 13 31 23 
			  Total  740 797 858 1,136 1,377 
			 
			 South East Disadvantaged 1 888 928 1,116 1,350 1,828 
			   2 1,410 1,549 1,789 2,201 2,946 
			  Other 3 2,360 2,492 2,649 3,428 4,336 
			   4 2,906 3,173 3,311 4,175 5,364 
			   5 3,158 3,370 3,626 4,385 5,429 
			   Unknown 113 109 328 179 265 
			  Total  10,835 11,621 12,819 15,718 20,168 
			 
			 England Disadvantaged 1 9,791 10,738 12,429 15,986 22,999 
			   2 11,919 12,655 14,460 17,947 25,182 
			  Other 3 13,288 14,054 15,200 19,443 26,059 
			   4 15,299 16,152 17,250 21,733 28,774 
			   5 17,619 18,549 19,749 24,683 30,805 
			   Unknown 922 970 1,900 1,393 1,857 
			  Total  68,838 73,118 80,988 101,185 135,676 
			 (1) For the purposes of their funding allocations, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) treat entrants from the most disadvantaged 40% of neighbourhoods as 'disadvantaged' http://www.hefce.ac.uk/widen/fund/ HEFCE uses two different groupings of areas to define disadvantage which are based on the historic levels of participation or qualification in higher education by the local population: one based on the participation rates of young (19 and under) people in HE (which is used by HEFCE when looking at young full-time entrants); and one based on the proportion of adults in the area who hold HE qualifications (which is used by HEFCE when looking at part-time and mature full-time entrants). Because these tables include applicants and accepted applicants of all ages disadvantage is defined by the HE qualified adults measure.  Note: Numbers for successful and unsuccessful applicants are too small to be split into five quintiles for constituency and local authority level. Therefore the data are split into those from areas classified as 'disadvantaged' or 'other.'

Higher Education: Admissions

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the proposed national scholarship programme on  (a) universities which recruit higher than average numbers of disadvantaged students and  (b) the propensity of universities to recruit disadvantaged students.

David Willetts: The National Scholarship Programme (NSP) will form part of a coherent package of help targeted on potential students from disadvantaged backgrounds. All universities that want to charge a higher graduate contribution than the £6,000 threshold will be obliged to participate in the NSP.
	We have made it clear that those universities that charge the most should make the most significant contribution towards assisting students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access and succeed at university.
	Details of the NSP are still being finalised. Criteria for the NSP are currently being developed through advice from an expert panel, which includes the National Union of Students, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Universities UK, Sutton Trust and others.

Higher Education: Admissions

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of students who will receive assistance from the proposed National Scholarship Programme in each of the next four years; and what criteria he expects to apply to assess eligibility for the fund.

David Willetts: The National Scholarship Programme (NSP) will form part of a coherent package of help targeted on bright potential students from disadvantaged backgrounds. All universities that want to charge a higher graduate contribution than the £6,000 threshold will be obliged to participate in the NSP.
	Details of the National Scholarship Programme are still being finalised. Criteria for the NSP are currently being developed through advice from an expert panel, which includes the National Union of Students, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Universities UK, Sutton Trust and others. My right hon. Friend the Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes), the Government's Advocate for Access to Higher Education, has been invited to join the group.
	We want a wide range of people to have the opportunity to benefit from the programme. Likely groups to be supported include disabled students, part-time students, mature-aged students, those who have been eligible for the pupil premium at school, or have received free school meals or whose family income means that they will be eligible to receive student maintenance grants.
	Government investment in the programme will reach £150 million a year by 2014/15. Options could include a first free year for disadvantaged students who were on free school meals or a foundation year to attract young talented people into the professions. Such measures could potentially help around 18,000 students in 2014/15. The number of students who can benefit from the new programme will depend on the final design which is currently being developed with advice from the expert panel.

Microfinance

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of microfinance projects in supporting  (a) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and  (b) SMEs led by women.

Mark Prisk: In June 2010 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published an action-orientated summary of the national evaluation of Community Development Finance Institutions (which includes microfinance) for the sector. This set out information on the effectiveness of microfinance projects in supporting SMEs. The report did not break down the outcomes for the projects by gender but support for women is mainstreamed within the CDFI sector.

Postgraduate Education: Regional Development Agencies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which regional development agencies have funded  (a) wholly and  (b) partially postgraduate courses in the last five years; what subject matter such courses have covered; what the duration of study was for each such course; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: The following tables give the details, where available, of the postgraduate courses undertaken by members of RDA staff that have been funded, either wholly or partly, by the regional development agencies over the last five years.
	
		
			   2005/06  2006/07 
			  RDA  Wholly funded  Partially funded  Courses  Duration  Wholly funded  Partially funded  Courses  Duration 
			 AWM 0 0   1 1 CIPFA 1 year 
			MSc Research Methods in Public Service (Part Funded) 2 years 
			  
			 EEDA 1 0 MBA 1 year 0 0   
			 EMDA 1 0 Accountancy (ACCA) 3 years 2 0 Professional Diploma in Marketing 1 year 
			Certificate in UK Planning Law (3 modules) 1 year 
			  
			 LDA 
			 NWDA 0 0   4 1 MSc Urban Regeneration and Management 2 years 
			MSc Urban and Rural Regeneration 2 years 
			MBA 3 years 
			PG Diploma in Surveying 2.5 years 
			MSc Information Systems (Part funded) 3 years 
			  
			 ONE 2 0 CIPS (Year 2) 2 years 7 1 ACCA Professional Qualification (2) 5 years 
			MA Regional Development 2 years   Certificate in Regeneration 0.5 years 
			MSC Audit (Internal/External) Management and Consultancy 1 year 
			Professional Diploma in Marketing 1 year 
			CIM 1 year 
			MA European Union Studies 2 years 
			Cultural and Heritage Tourism Development Scheme 2 years 
			CIMA (Partially Funded) 3 years 
			  
			 SEEDA(1) 0 0   0 0   
			 SWRDA(2) 0 2 MSc Planning Practice and Research.  0 2 One module of MSc Regeneration and Renewal.  
			Module of MBA.One module of MA in Urban Regeneration  
			  
			 YF(3)   MA Social and Public Policy 2 years   MA Regeneration and Environment 1 year 
			MBA - 2 people 3 years   MBA 2 years 
			MSc Transport Planning and Management 1 year   MSc Local and Regional Economic Development 3 years 
		
	
	
		
			   2007/08  2008/09 
			  RDA  Wholly funded  Partially funded  Courses  Duration  Wholly funded  Partially funded  Courses  Duration 
			 AWM 4 0 MSc Urban Regeneration Research and Policy 3 years 1 1 MA Regeneration 2 years 
			MSc Environmental Management for Business 2 years   MA Modern History (Part Funded) 2 years 
			Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management 3 years 
			BSc Psychology 3 years 
			  
			 EEDA 2 0 L7 Certificate in Leadership Coaching 1 year 1 1 Post Graduate Diploma in Local and Regional Regeneration (Part funded) 2 years 
			L7 Diploma in Leadership 1 year   Masters in Town Planning 2 years 
			  
			 EMDA 3 1 CIM Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing 1 year 6 0 CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing 1 year 
			CIPR Diploma (Public Relations) 1 year   CIM Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing 1 year 
			Postgraduate Certificate in Management 1 year   Postgraduate Diploma in HR (CIPD) 2 years 
			LLM Masters in European Law (Part Funded) 3 years   Postgraduate Certificate in Management (3 people) 18 months 
			  
			 LDA 
			 NWDA 6 0 MSc Urban Regeneration and Management 2 years 3 0 MA Leadership in Sustainability 2 years 
			MSc Urban Regeneration and Development 2 years   MA Regeneration and Development 2 years 
			MSc Development Economics and Policy 2 years   MBA 3 years 
			MA Planning 2 years 
			MSc Commercial Property Development 2 years 
			PG Certificate Local and Regional Economic Development 1 year 
			  
			 ONE 2 0 Diploma in Management 3 years 5 0 MA Human Resource Management 2 years 
			Diploma in Marketing 1 year   MA Local and Regional Government 2 years 
			MA Human Resources 2 years 
			MA Regional and Local Development 2 years 
			IIA Certificate in Internal Audit and Business Risk November 2008- to confirm 
			  
			 SEEDA(1) 1 1 MA Strategic Human Resources 1 year 0 1 MBA September 2008-June 10  
			MSC Spatial planning - September 2007-August 2009 (Part funded)  
			  
			 SWRDA(2) 0 2 One module of MSc Regeneration and Renewal.  0 5 Postgraduate Diploma in Regional Economic Development. 1 year 
			One module of MA in Urban RegenerationYear 1 MBA modules for 2 people.  
			Year 2 of MA in Personnel Development.  
			Module of MSc in Sustainable Development  
			  
			 YF(3)   MA Urban Environment Design 2 years   MA in Human Resources Management 2 years 
			MBA 2 years   MA in Property appraisal and management 2 years 
			MSc Urban Regeneration 1 year   MSc Transport Planning and the Environment 2/3 years 
			PHD 2.5 years   MSc HRM 1 year 
		
	
	
		
			   2009/2010 
			  RDA  Wholly Funded  Partially Funded  Courses  Duration 
			 AWM 2 0 MSc Real Estate Management 2 years 
			MSc Spatial Planning 2 years 
			  
			 EEDA 1 1 Masters in Town Planning 2 years 
			Advanced Diploma in Internal Auditing (Part Funded) 2 years 
			  
			 EMDA 0 2 CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing (Part Funded) 1 year 
			Doctorate of Social Sciences (Evidence and evaluation) (Part Funded) 3 years 
			  
			 LDA 
			 NWDA 0 0   
			 ONE 7 3 Diploma in Human Resource Management 2 years 
			Post Graduate Studies in Urban and Regional Development 1 year 
			CIMA 3 years (to complete February 2013) 
			MSc Development Management 1.5 years 
			Diploma in Destination Management 1 year 
			Diploma in Destination Management 1 year 
			Diploma in Destination Management 1 year 
			MSc Corporate Communication (Partially Funded) 2 years 
			LLB (Partially Funded) 4 years (to complete September 2013) 
			Diploma in Management Accounting (Partially Funded) 1 year 
			  
			 SEEDA(1) 0 0   
			  
			 SWRDA(2) 0 4 Year 2 MBA modules for 2 people.  
			MBA.  
			Year 3 of MA in Personnel Development.  
			  
			 YF(3)   MA Architecture and Urbanism 2 years 
			 (1) The figures for SEEDA do not include full- or part- sponsorship by SEEDA of professional qualifications such as RICS, CIPD, CIPR, for which a first degree may not be essential. Such figures are not in any case readily available. (2) It has not been possible to provide details of the duration of study as these courses are completed by staff in their own time, using distance and flexible learning arrangements. (3) It has not been possible to identify % of costs (wholly/partially funded) in the time limit of the PQ.  Note: Postgraduate courses pre-April 2007 are not recorded on our current HR management system, so data for these years may be incomplete. It would incur disproportionate cost to check records in our archives.

Student Loans Company

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of payments taken in error by the Student Loans Company in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: Statistics on the number of people being refunded repayments-regardless of whether these repayments came before or after borrowers have repaid their loans in full-are published in table 2(iii) of the Statistical First Release "Student Loans for Higher Education in England, Financial Year 2009-10". It is accessible on the Student Loans Company website at
	http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/newnationalstatistics2_page.html
	In financial year 2009-10, 27,800 borrowers were refunded such repayments. This figure includes a number of over-repayments taken after borrowers repaid their loans in full which the Student Loans Company (SLC) is in the process of estimating. I propose to write to the hon. Member with this information once the statistics are ready for publication.
	It is possible for borrowers to over-repay their student loans because of the loan collection process. After the end of each tax year, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) notifies the Student Loans Company (SLC) of loan deductions made by employers in the previous tax year. Due to this time lag, it is possible for people to over-repay. However, all overpayments are refunded with interest.
	Since December 2009, in order to reduce the number of those who over-repay, borrowers nearing the end of their loan repayment term are notified by the SLC that they may opt out of the PAYE system, and complete their loan repayments by direct debit. Additionally, borrowers are advised to monitor their own repayments so they can calculate when they are likely to repay their loan in full.

Student Numbers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many students normally resident in England were enrolled on full-time  (a) undergraduate degrees,  (b) vocational sub-degrees and  (c) foundation degrees on the most recent date for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many students aged between 18 and 24 were enrolled on full-time  (a) undergraduate degrees,  (b) vocational sub-degrees and  (c) foundation degrees on the most recent date for which figures are available.

David Willetts: The numbers of English-domiciled full-time undergraduate enrolments at UK higher education institutions are shown by age group and level of study in Table 1. Figures are taken from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record and are provided for the 2009/10 academic year. Figures for the 2010/11 academic year will become available from HESA in January 2012.
	The numbers of English-domiciled full-time undergraduate enrolments at English further education colleges are shown by age group and level of study in Table 2. Figures are taken from the Skills Funding Agency Individualised Learning Record and are provided for the 2008/09 academic year. Figures for the 2009/10 academic year will become available later this year.
	
		
			  Table 1: Full-time English-domiciled undergraduate enrolments by age group and level of study UK higher education institutions, academic year 2009/10 
			   Age group 
			  Level of study  Under 18  18-24  25 and over  Total 
			 First Degree 820 767,260 90,610 858,695 
			 Foundation Degree 160 25,810 14,265 40,230 
			 Other Undergraduate(1) 320 33,935 26,780 61,035 
			 (1) Includes students enrolled on Higher National Diplomas (HNDs), Higher National Certificates (HNCs), Diplomas and Certificates of higher education, National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) at undergraduate level and other sub-degree courses. Note: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Full-time English-domiciled undergraduate enrolments by age group and level of study English further education colleges, academic year 2008/09 
			   Age group 
			  Level of study  Under 18  18-24  25 and over  Total 
			 First Degree 0 3,645 2,330 5,980 
			 Foundation Degree 25 5,225 2,040 7,290 
			 Other Undergraduate(1) 275 5,095 4,090 9,460 
			 (1) Includes students enrolled on Higher National Diplomas (HNDs), Higher National Certificates (HNCs), Diplomas and Certificates of higher education and other sub-degree courses.  Note: Figures have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals.  Source: Skills Funding Agency Individualised Learning Record (L05)

Temporary Employment :Career Progression

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward proposals to improve career progression for agency workers; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Davey: The Government recognise the importance of the agency sector in the UK labour market and will continue to work with employers to raise awareness of the public skills system and to invest in training agency workers. Agency workers are currently eligible for Government funding for skills training if they have a contract of employment with the employment agency and are working for an employer client of that employment agency. The Government do not propose to alter this approach to training agency workers when the new workplace training provision is introduced in the next academic year.
	As part of the UK's implementation of the agency workers directive, the Government will continue to look for opportunities to improve agency workers access to training to enhance their career development and employability.

JUSTICE

Courts: Closures

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on improvements to each court identified for closure under his recent proposals in respect of the  (a) building,  (b) interior and  (c) facilities in the last 10 years.

Jonathan Djanogly: HMCS was created in April 2005 and prior to this date, magistrates courts were the responsibility of independent Magistrates Courts Committees and the relevant local authorities were responsible for works, receiving an 80% capital grant from the former Department for Constitutional Affairs. Information on improvement works before 2005 is therefore not available to the Ministry of Justice.
	Post-2005, for magistrates and county courts, due to the large amount of manual searching of records and data collation required, it would incur disproportionate costs to answer this question.

Departmental Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what single tender contracts his Department has awarded since his appointment; and what the monetary value is of each contract above the EU public procurement threshold.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice has issued a total of 51 single tender contracts from May 2010 to the present date. Of these 51 single tender contracts two have been above the EU public procurement threshold. These are as follows:
	A contract with Tribal to provide guidance on the transfer of staff from the Scottish Government to the Ministry of Justice with a value of £139,500.
	A contract with TNS UK for the provision of data base access with a value of £116,769.

Firearms: Convictions

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were convicted of offences relating to firearms in  (a) 2008,  (b) 2009 and  (c) 2010.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons found guilty at all courts of firearms offences, England and Wales, 2008 and 2009 (latest available) can be viewed in the following table.
	Court proceedings data for 2010 are planned for publication in the spring.
	
		
			  Number of persons found guilty at all courts for firearms offences( 1) , England and Wales, 2008 and 2009( 2,3) 
			   Number 
			 2008(4) 2,050 
			 2009 1,850 
			 (1) Includes the following: possession of firearms, firearm certificate related offences, and miscellaneous firearms offences. (2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services in the Ministry of Justice

Judicial Diversity Taskforce

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects the Judicial Diversity Taskforce to report its findings; and if he will make a statement.

Kenneth Clarke: The Judicial Diversity Taskforce, which is overseeing the delivery of the recommendations arising from the report of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, will be meeting in early spring to discuss and review progress on improving the diversity of the judiciary.
	It will be for the Taskforce to decide how and when to report its findings.

Judicial Diversity Taskforce

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent representations he has received on diversity in the Judiciary.

Kenneth Clarke: My noble Friend, Lord McNally, who represents the Ministry of Justice on the Judicial Diversity Taskforce, and I, have met and corresponded with a range of people about judicial diversity including: the former Chair of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity, Baroness Neuberger; the Lord Chief Justice and other members of the senior judiciary; the former Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission; representatives of the legal profession; and academics.

Judicial Diversity Taskforce

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community on judicial diversity.

Kenneth Clarke: I have not received any representations from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community on the issue of judicial diversity.
	However, I know that members of the Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity met with representatives from both Stonewall and Interlaw in developing their final report.
	Ministry of Justice officials have also met with representatives from both Stonewall and Interlaw to discuss the report and its implementation. Representatives from Interlaw and Stonewall have presented to the Judicial Diversity Forum, led by the Judicial Appointments Commission, on which the Ministry of Justice is represented.

Legal Services Commission

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding the Legal Services Commission provided from the Legal Aid budget for advice and representation in private family law cases involving  (a) ancillary relief disputes and  (b) children and family disputes where domestic violence (i) was and (ii) was not present in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: It is not possible for the legal Services Commission to extract the information requested in the time available. I will write to the hon. Member when this is available and place a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House.

Legal Services Commission

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much funding the Legal Services Commission provided from the Legal Aid budget for legal help and representation in debt cases where the client's home  (a) was and  (b) was not at immediate risk in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Djanogly: The following table shows the net cash expenditure on debt cases in 2008-09 for Legal Help and representation. The Legal Services Commission is unable to provide a breakdown of expenditure on debt cases for legal help into categories where the client's home is at risk and where it is not.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Representation  Legal help 
			 Home at risk 0.06 n/a 
			 Home not at risk 1.19 n/a 
			 Total 1.26 25.62

National Offender Management Service

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish each item of  (a) guidance and  (b) correspondence from (i) his Department and (ii) the National Offender Management Service to (A) prison governors and (B) others on the release of prisoners under home detention curfew since January 2010.

Crispin Blunt: Guidance to prison governors on the operation of the home detention curfew (HDC) scheme is published on the Prison Service website and is contained in Prison Service Order (PSO) 6700. This PSO was issued in 2000 and has since been amended by a number of prison service instructions (PSIs), also published on the website. The PSO and PSIs may be accessed via:
	http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/psispsos/listpsos
	Since January 2010 three PSIs have been published that deal with HDC: numbers 34, 39 and 55. There has been no general correspondence with governors about HDC during this period and neither this Department nor the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) routinely publishes correspondence relating to private individuals.

National Offender Management Service

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will publish each item of  (a) guidance and  (b) correspondence from (i) his Department and (ii) the National Offender Management Service to (A) magistrates' courts and (B) Crown courts on the sentencing of convicted criminals since January 2010.

Crispin Blunt: There has been no such guidance or correspondence issuing from the Department to the courts on sentencing. Sentencing guidelines are issued by the Sentencing Council and the Court of Appeal.

Prison Accommodation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the operational capacity is of  (a) the prison estate and  (b) each prison in the prison estate;
	(2)  what the certified normal accommodation figures are for  (a) the prison estate and  (b) each prison in the prison estate;
	(3)  how many prisoners are accommodated in multiple-occupancy cells in each prison.

Crispin Blunt: The operational capacity and certified normal accommodation of  (a) the prison estate and  (b) each prison in the prison estate is set out in the following table. This information is published monthly on the HMPS website via the following website.
	http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/assets/documents/10004C33pop_bull_dec_10.doc
	Information held centrally on prison occupancy covers all but 1,900 prisoners therefore it is not possible to provide the number of prisoners accommodated in multiple-occupancy cells for each prison. It is however possible from the data available to determine the approximate number of prisoners in the prison estate who are sharing accommodation. As at 31 December 2010 around 33,000 prisoners (39% of the prison population) were sharing accommodation with other prisoners, be it crowded (e.g. two prisoners held in a cell designed for one) or not (e.g. two prisoners held in a cell designed for two).
	
		
			  Monthly Bulletin-December 2010 (report date 31 December 2010) 
			  Prison Name  Baseline CNA  In Use CNA  Operational Capacity  Population( 1)  % Pop to In Use CNA  % Accommodation Available 
			 Acklington 946 946 946 864 91 100 
			 Altcourse 794 794 1,324 1,148 145 100 
			 Ashfield 407 407 360 298 73 100 
			 Ashwell 599 184 214 212 115 31 
			 Askham Grange 150 126 128 115 91 84 
			 Aylesbury 437 421 444 407 97 96 
			 Bedford 322 321 506 441 137 100 
			 Belmarsh 800 800 933 779 97 100 
			 Birmingham 1,109 1,088 1,450 1,420 131 98 
			 Blantyre House 122 122 122 122 100 100 
			 Blundeston 481 409 454 453 111 85 
			 Brinsford 545 545 577 489 90 100 
			 Bristol 424 420 606 570 136 99 
			 Brixton 530 530 798 696 131 100 
			 Bronzefield 527 527 527 449 85 100 
			 Buckley Hall 350 350 385 377 108 100 
			 Bullingdon 879 879 1.114 1,049 119 100 
			 Bullwood Hall 220 220 228 228 104 100 
			 Bure 503 503 523 519 103 100 
			 Canterbury 195 195 314 289 148 100 
			 Cardiff 554 554 824 822 148 100 
			 Castington 407 407 409 229 56 100 
			 Channings Wood 698 698 731 706 101 100 
			 Chelmsford 554 554 695 681 123 100 
			 Coldingley 494 494 513 511 103 100 
			 Cookham Wood 143 143 143 104 73 100 
			 Dartmoor 635 493 514 492 100 78 
			 Deerbolt 513 513 513 473 92 100 
			 Doncaster 713 713 1,145 1,065 149 100 
			 Dorchester 146 146 260 212 145 100 
			 Dovegate 1,064 1,060 1,180 1,152 109 100 
			 Dover 316 316 316 283 90 100 
			 Downview 359 291 291 270 93 81 
			 Drake Hall 315 315 315 271 86 100 
			 Durham 606 606 1,014 888 147 100 
			 East Sutton Park 98 98 100 86 88 100 
			 Eastwood Park 333 333 363 285 86 100 
			 Edmunds Hill 389 379 379 375 99 97 
			 Elmley (Sheppey Cluster) 943 925 1,234 1,187 128 98 
			 Erlestoke 470 370 370 360 97 79 
			 Everthorpe 603 603 689 660 109 100 
			 Exeter 322 316 545 495 157 98 
			 Featherstone 671 642 655 653 102 96 
			 Feltham 762 762 762 636 83 100 
			 Ford 557 557 557 523 94 100 
			 Forest Bank 1,064 1,064 1,424 1,308 123 100 
			 Foston Hall 283 283 298 225 80 100 
			 Frankland 859 859 859 840 98 100 
			 Full Sutton 604 596 608 597 100 99 
			 Garth 812 812 847 822 101 100 
			 Gartree 677 677 677 678 100 100 
			 Glen Parva 652 652 808 706 108 100 
			 Gloucester 225 225 321 272 121 100 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill 587 573 573 523 91 98 
			 Guys Marsh 520 452 509 489 108 87 
			 Haslar 160 124 134 117 94 78 
			 Haverigg 622 622 644 622 100 100 
			 Hewell 1,173 1,173 1,431 1,293 110 100 
			 High Down 999 999 1,103 1,032 103 100 
			 Highpoint 920 920 944 914 99 100 
			 Hindley 506 440 440 284 65 87 
			 Hollesley Bay 365 365 365 354 97 100 
			 Holloway 540 531 531 450 85 98 
			 Holme House 1,034 1,034 1.212 942 91 100 
			 Hull 723 723 1,044 944 131 100 
			 Huntercombe 366 275 275 197 72 75 
			 Isis 252 252 252 198 79 100 
			 Isle of Wight(3) 1,570 1,569 1,705 1,668 106 100 
			 Kennet 175 175 342 333 190 100 
			 Kingston 199 199 199 198 99 100 
			 Kirkham 592 592 592 585 99 100 
			 Kirklevington Grange 283 283 283 267 94 100 
			 Lancaster 161 161 243 237 147 100 
			 Lancaster Farms 480 480 530 452 94 100 
			 Latchmere House 207 207 207 192 93 100 
			 Leeds 829 776 1,088 1,041 134 94 
			 Leicester 210 210 392 330 157 100 
			 Lewes 623 495 507 457 92 79 
			 Leyhill 532 530 530 499 94 100 
			 Lincoln 431 427 729 545 128 99 
			 Lindholme 1,054 1.038 1.118 1,045 101 98 
			 Littlehey 1,143 1,143 1,206 1,164 102 100 
			 Liverpool 1,188 1,157 1,423 1,151 99 97 
			 Long Lartin 629 622 622 614 99 99 
			 Low Newton 314 259 282 235 91 82 
			 Lowdham Grange 900 900 930 936 104 100 
			 Maidstone 565 565 600 592 105 100 
			 Manchester 965 949 1,268 1,165 123 98 
			 Moorland/Moorland Open 1,023 713 746 656 92 70 
			 Morton Hall 392 392 392 272 69 100 
			 Mount 747 747 768 766 103 100 
			 New Hall 393 392 446 358 91 100 
			 North Sea Camp 318 318 318 311 98 100 
			 Northallerton 147 142 242 172 121 97 
			 Norwich 625 625 767 706 113 100 
			 Nottingham 723 723 1,060 962 133 100 
			 Onley 710 710 710 678 95 100 
			 Parc 1,170 946 1,258 1,213 128 81 
			 Pentonville 914 909 1,272 1,156 127 99 
			 Peterborough 840 840 1,008 863 103 100 
			 Portland 607 463 483 428 92 76 
			 Preston 453 453 840 752 166 100 
			 Ranby 970 892 1,098 1,071 120 92 
			 Reading 190 190 293 217 114 100 
			 Risley 1,050 1,050 1,095 1,085 103 100 
			 Rochester 756 649 649 615 95 86 
			 Rye Hill 600 600 625 613 102 100 
			 Send 282 282 282 271 96 100 
			 Shepton Mallet 165 165 189 187 113 100 
			 Shrewsbury 184 184 340 315 171 100 
			 Stafford 741 725 741 736 102 98 
			 Standford Hill (Sheppey Cluster) 464 464 464 442 95 100 
			 Stocken 779 779 842 824 106 100 
			 Stoke Heath 634 634 750 505 80 100 
			 Styal 462 451 460 404 90 98 
			 Sudbury 581 581 581 565 97 100 
			 Swaleside (Sheppey Cluster) 1,112 1,112 1,112 1,101 99 100 
			 Swansea 248 240 428 410 171 97 
			 Swinfen Hall 604 604 654 645 107 100 
			 Thorn Cross 322 322 322 277 86 100 
			 Usk/Prescoed 335 335 449 434 130 100 
			 Verne 572 571 606 598 105 100 
			 Wakefield 749 748 750 740 99 100 
			 Wandsworth 1,107 1,107 1,665 1,573 142 100 
			 Warren Hill 222 128 128 117 91 58 
			 Wayland 957 957 1,017 1,000 104 100 
			 Wealstun 810 810 832 803 99 100 
			 Wellingborough 638 514 522 505 98 81 
			 Werrington 160 160 160 102 64 100 
			 Wetherby 408 384 384 312 81 94 
			 Whatton 779 776 841 835 108 100 
			 Whitemoor 473 452 452 448 99 96 
			 Winchester 499 499 706 642 129 100 
			 Wolds 320 320 395 382 119 100 
			 Woodhill 661 656 819 767 117 99 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 1,176 1,176 1,281 1,203 102 100 
			 Wymott 1,113 1,113 1,176 1,161 104 100 
			 Total baseline CNA = 80,183 Total In Use CNA = 77,466 Total Useable Operational Capacity(2) = 87,983 Total Population = 83,055 % Population to In Use CNA = 107% Total % Accommodation Available = 97% Total Out of Use Accommodation = 2,717 (1) The prison unlock figure may be lower than the 'Population', as the 'Population' includes prisoners on authorised absence. (2) No places are currently activated under Operation Safeguard. (3) The sites at Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst constitute HM Prison Isle of Wight.  Definitions of Accommodation Terms: Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA): Certified Normal Accommodation (CNA), or uncrowded capacity, is the Prison Service's own measure of accommodation. CNA represents the good, decent standard of accommodation that the service aspires to provide all prisoners. Baseline CNA: Baseline CNA is the sum total of all certified accommodation in an establishment except, normally: Cells in punishment or segregation units. Healthcare cells or rooms in training prisons and YOIs that are not routinely used to accommodate long stay patients. In-Use CNA: In-use CNA is baseline CNA less those places not available for immediate use, for example: damaged cells, cells affected by building works. Operational Capacity: The operational capacity of a prison is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime. It is determined by Directors of Offender Management on the basis of operational judgement and experience. Useable Operational Capacity: Useable Operational Capacity of the estate is the sum of all establishments' operational capacity less 2000 places. This is known as the operating margin and reflects the constraints imposed by the need to provide separate accommodation for different classes of prisoner i.e. by sex, age, security category, conviction status, single cell risk assessment and also due to geographical distribution. Establishments Exceeding their Operational Capacity: Governing governors and Controllers and Directors of contracted out prisons must ensure that the approved operational capacity is not normally exceeded other than on an exceptional basis to accommodate pressing operational need.  Source: Report produced by Population Strategy The CNA and Operational Capacity figures are taken from the latest signed cell certificates held by PS. The report is compiled from data on the last working Friday in December.

Prison Sentences

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders serving custodial sentences received sentences of  (a) less than six months , (b) between six and 12 months,  (c) between 12 months and five years,  (d) between five and 10 years,  (e) between 10 and 25 years and  (f) over 25 years.

Crispin Blunt: From the most recent available data, 30 September 2010, the number of prisoners serving custodial sentences of:
	 (a) less than or equal to six months was 5,532;
	 (b) greater than six months to less than 12 months was 2,564;
	 (c) 12 months to less than five years was 26,546;
	 (d) five years to less than 10 years was recorded as 12,630;
	 (e) 10 years to less than 25 years was recorded as 4,907;
	 (f) 25 years or more was recorded as 75.
	There were 432 cases with a sentence length of five years or more where it was not possible to provide an exact sentence length and there were 13,271 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences at 30 September 2010.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Reoffenders

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the reoffending rate of offenders with a diagnosed mental health disorder was in each English region in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the reoffending rate of offenders was in each English region in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Crispin Blunt: The Ministry of Justice publishes local reoffending data for all adult offenders on the probation caseload (which includes offenders out on licence and those with court orders). These data are produced at the probation area level and measure the reoffending of all offenders under probation supervision over a period of three months. The results are produced by aggregating four quarters of data.
	The following table shows the reoffending rate for adult offenders on the probation caseload. Each period shown is based on the offenders on the probation caseload at the end of March, June, September and December of each year. Data are not available prior to 2007.
	On 1 April 2010, Probation Trusts were established following a rigorous formal application process, resulting in all 42 former Probation Boards being replaced by 35 Probation Trusts. The table presented here is based on data prior to this date.
	Reoffending data for offenders with a diagnosed mental health disorder are not available.
	Further information on adult reoffending is available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/reoffendingofadults.htm
	
		
			  Local adult reoffending rates by offenders, in 2007-09, by probation area in England 
			  Percentage 
			   1 April to 31 March each year 
			  Region  2007- 08  2008- 09  2009-10 
			 East Midlands 9.47 9.16 9.04 
			 East of England 8.65 9.22 9.29 
			 London 8.72 8.67 8.50 
			 North East 14.93 14.67 14.24 
			 North West 9.78 10.22 9.88 
			 South East 8.82 8.92 9.48 
			 South West 9.37 10.32 10.06 
			 Unknown 11.15 10.53 10.46

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related crime and disorder.

James Brokenshire: The Government take the issue of alcohol-related crime and disorder very seriously. In the coalition agreement, we set out a clear programme of reform around alcohol licensing to tackle the crime and antisocial behaviour that is too often associated with binge drinking in the night time economy.
	Following our recent consultation and the publication of the consultation response in December, we have committed to the following programme of work to introduce measures to deliver the coalition agreement commitments through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill:
	Making it easier for communities to have their say on local licensing, allowing local authorities to consider the views of the wider community, not just those living close to premises;
	Taking tough action against underage drinking by doubling the fine to £20,000 for those found persistently selling alcohol to children, extending orders that see premises closed on a voluntary basis to a minimum of seven days and bringing in automatic licence reviews for these problem premises-which can see licences revoked;
	Charging a fee for late-night licences to contribute towards the cost of policing and local authority services to help mitigate the impact of the night time economy on local communities;
	Substantially overhauling the system for Temporary Event Notices (TENs) so that existing loopholes can no longer be exploited by unscrupulous operators, while ensuring the process is not bureaucratic for small voluntary and community groups.
	Additionally, on 18 January the Government announced their intention to ban the sale of alcohol sold below duty + VAT. By introducing this new measure, we will stop the worst instances of deep discounting and prevent alcohol being sold so cheaply that it leads to a greater risk of health harms or drunken violence.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she plans to take to reduce the incidence of alcohol related crime and disorder.

James Brokenshire: The Government are determined to reform the licensing regime to ensure that alcohol is no longer a driver of crime and disorder. To this end, we have set out our proposals in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill which include giving licensing authorities more power to refuse or revoke premises licences, introducing a late night levy so that premises contribute to the cost of policing the night time economy and reforming the temporary event notice (TEN) system to ensure that loopholes can no longer be exploited.
	Additionally, we are running a series of intensive support visits for police and local authority areas which request this support. The visits take place over three days, and involve classroom based training for the operational staff on the powers they have to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder, as well as practical support on licensing visits to premises.

Bolivia: Drugs

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to lodge a formal objection to the request made by the Bolivian Government to amend the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to remove the ban on coca leaf chewing.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 21 January 2011
	The Government submitted an objection on 21 January 2011 to the Bolivian proposal to amend the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961 to remove coca leaf as an illicit drug.

Bolivia: Drugs

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on the proposal by Bolivia to exempt traditional uses of coca from the provisions of the 1961 UN Convention on Narcotic Drugs; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 18 January 2011
	The Government submitted an objection on 21 January 2011 to the Bolivian proposal to amend the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961 to remove coca leaf as an illicit drug. If coca leaf were permitted to be removed from the Convention, it would likely result in more coca cultivation, which in turn would lead to greater cocaine production.
	The Government remain committed to working with Bolivia to tackle cocaine supply and trafficking and I have recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bolivian Government to reinforce that close cooperation.

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detainees being transferred  (a) from Campsfield House immigration removal centre and  (b) to Campsfield House immigration removal centre have required medical treatment in connection with their transfer in the latest period for which figures are available.

Damian Green: Details on the numbers of detainees being transferred to and from Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre who have required medical treatment in connection with their transfer could be provided only by detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
	All escorting officers are trained in first aid, should a detainee require medical assistance while in their care. Officers could also divert to a hospital if they thought it appropriate.
	Every detainee is seen by a nurse within two hours of arrival at an immigration removal centre and is given an appointment to see a GP within 24 hours, unless an earlier appointment is required. This service extends to detainees who have transferred from another immigration removal centre.

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detainees were transferred from other immigration removal centres and other immigration detention facilities to Campsfield House immigration removal centre in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007,  (c) 2008,  (d) 2009 and  (e) 2010; and for what reasons each such transfer was made.

Damian Green: The following table shows the number of detainees who were transferred to Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in the calendar years 2008-10. Data are not available for prior years.
	
		
			   Number of detainees transferred 
			 2008 2,320 
			 2009 1,715 
			 2010 1,910 
		
	
	The data provided includes transfers to Campsfield House from other IRCs and other immigration detention facilities, including short term holding facilities and holding rooms. It does not include transfers from prisons or police stations. The information is taken from data normally used for management information only. It has not been subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications and is provisional and subject to change.
	Details on the reasons for each individual transfer are not available and could be provided only by examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.
	The Detainee Escorting and Population Management Unit (DEPMU) is responsible for bed space management within the UK Border Agency's detention estate. The unit seeks to minimise movements within the estate in the interests of providing a settled regime and the efficient use of escorting resources.
	Movement of detainees around the estate is required for operational reasons, most often to:
	Position detainees close to airports prior to removal
	Position detainees for court appearances
	Position detainees for hospital appointments
	Position detainees for embassy/documentation interviews
	Facilitate the movement of detainees to more secure locations for security/behavioural reasons
	Ensure bed space is fully utilised.

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre have been detained for  (a) more than and  (b) less than one year;
	(2)  what the longest period is for which a detainee has been held at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre in the last five years.

Damian Green: As at 30 September 2010, management information shows that of the 215 people in Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre, detained solely under Immigration Act powers, 200 had been in detention for less than a year and 15 for a year or longer. These figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	The Home Office publishes statistics on the number of persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers on a quarterly and annual basis, which are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	Local records show that the longest period for which a detainee has been held at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre in the last five years was 1,041 days. The individual concerned had a very serious criminal record and was detained while attempts were made to document him for removal. This information is taken from data normally used for management information only. It has not been subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications, is provisional and subject to change.

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the detainees in Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre were convicted of committing violent crimes in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008,  (c) 2009 and  (d) 2010.

Damian Green: UK Border Agency internal management information shows that there are currently no detainees in Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre that have been convicted of violent crimes since 2007.

Cannabis

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to  (a) locate and  (b) close facilities manufacturing skunk cannabis; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The unauthorised cultivation of cannabis and any subsequent supply and possession of cannabis is unlawful. The manufacture and trafficking in controlled drugs of all classes needs to be tackled robustly in order to reduce the harm drugs cause to communities and the organised criminality associated with their supply.
	The Government have worked closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to support the policing of illegal cannabis production and use. On 17 August 2010 ACPO published the UK National Problem Profile Commercial Cultivation of Cannabis. The main finding of the report is that there has been a significant rise in the identification of cannabis factories in 2009-10, from 3,032 in 2007-08, to 6,866 in 2009-10. The number of cannabis plants seized has also increased, from 643,510 cannabis plants seized in 2008-09 to 758,700 in 2009-10.
	ACPO is co-ordinating the police response to the issue of cannabis factories, which includes proactive operations to identify and close down these factories and disrupt the organised crime groups behind them, while improving police knowledge and understanding of the trade through activity-led intelligence gathering.
	This activity includes the development of a UK Baseline Assessment; a National Problem Profile of commercial cannabis cultivation; engagement with UK Revenue Protection Agency (UKRPA) and power companies and the publication of National Policing Improvement Agency and ACPO practice guidance on tackling commercial cannabis cultivation and head shops. The guidance can be found at:
	www.npia.police.uk/en/docs/Cannabis_Cultivation_R.pdf

Detention Centres: Northern Ireland

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent discussions she has had with the  (a) Northern Ireland Minister of Justice and  (b) Northern Ireland Policing Board on proposals for a new immigration detention centre in Northern Ireland;
	(2)  whether provision will be made for children to be held in the Northern Ireland immigration detention centre.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency successfully applied for planning consent to convert a disused police station in Larne into a residential short-term holding facility providing accommodation for up to 22 adults. No children will be held at the facility.
	The Secretary of State for the Home Department has not personally met with the Northern Ireland Policing Board to discuss Larne. She met with David Ford, Northern Ireland Minister of Justice on 8 September 2010 but Larne was not discussed.
	The UK Border Agency Assistant Director responsible for Immigration Group in Northern Ireland met with the Northern Ireland Policing Board on 18 March 2010 and briefed them on the Agency's plans for a short-term holding facility at Larne. Agency officials have since, on occasion, updated members of the legislative assembly, which includes Policing Board members, on the proposals for the facility.

Drugs: Professor Nutt

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether licences, authorities or permissions were required for Professor Nutt to possess and inject the class A drug psilocybin into human subjects on the BBC programme, The Brain, A Secret History.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 24 January 2011
	 A licence is required to possess psilocybin, which is controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and listed in schedule 1 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Those working with schedule 1 drugs in their capacity as researchers and under Home Office licence to possess do not need a specific Home Office authority to administer.
	The psilocybin used on the BBC programme, The Brain, A Secret History, was lawfully possessed by Bristol university under Home Office licence and was lawfully taken to Cardiff university, where the research took place, under the supervision of the licence holder.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many students from countries outside the EU entered the UK in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: The available statistics on the number of persons given leave to enter the United Kingdom as students, excluding EEA and Swiss nationals, 1997 to 2009, are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Passengers( 1, 2, 3)  given leave to enter the United Kingdom for the purpose of study excluding EEA and Swiss nationals, 1997 to 2009 
			  Number of journeys 
			   Total  Students  Tier 4-students  Student visitors 
			 1997 278,000 278,000 n/a n/a 
			 1998 266,000 266,000 n/a n/a 
			 1999 272,000 272,000 n/a n/a 
			 2000 312,000 312,000 n/a n/a 
			 2001 339,000 339,000 n/a n/a 
			 2002 359,000 369,000 n/a n/a 
			 2003 319,000 319,000 n/a n/a 
			 2004 294,000 294,000 n/a n/a 
			 2005 284,000 284,000 n/a n/a 
			 2006 309,000 309,000 n/a n/a 
			 2007 361,000 358,000 n/a 3,400 
			 2008 370,000 227,000 n/a 143,000 
			 2009(4) 468,000 82,100 188,000 198,000 
			 n/a = Not applicable (1) Excludes dependants. (2) Nationals of EU accession countries are included or excluded according to their accession date. (3) Figures rounded to three significant figures. Figures may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding (4) Provisional figures. 
		
	
	Statistics on passengers given leave to enter the United Kingdom by purpose of journey are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin, "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom". These publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether entry clearance decisions for visitors from the Punjab, India are taken by officials in  (a) Delhi,  (b) London or  (c) elsewhere.

Damian Green: Decisions on all applications for entry clearance lodged in the Punjab, India, including those for entry as a visitor, are made by UK Border Agency officials in New Delhi. However, an entry clearance officer may, exceptionally, refer an application to London for consideration outside the immigration rules, e.g. if there are compelling, compassionate circumstances involved.

Hinkley Point Power Stations: Demonstrations

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she has taken to prevent protestors from accessing Hinkley Point nuclear power station via the Bristol Ports Habitat Wetland scheme.

James Brokenshire: The policing of protest is an operational matter for the local police force.

Human Trafficking

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many decisions by the competent authority regarding the National Referral Mechanism have been subsequently reversed through judicial review.

Damian Green: holding answer 21 January 2011
	We are not aware of any competent authority decisions being reversed by judicial review. There have been a very small number of cases where a judicial review application has caused the competent authority to reconsider the case and this has led to a negative decision being reversed.

Human Trafficking

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to support more effective enforcement internationally to combat human trafficking.

Damian Green: The Government work closely with international counterparts, including through regional bodies such as the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to strengthen joint enforcement activity in source and transit countries, to tackle criminal networks and to raise awareness among potential victims. Law enforcement partners work in collaboration with international counterparts, using Joint Investigation Teams where appropriate. The forthcoming human trafficking strategy will set out what steps we will take to reinforce these efforts.

Human Trafficking

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to encourage the reporting of human trafficking.

Damian Green: The reporting of human trafficking is crucial if the United Kingdom is to be successful in its effort to combat this brutal crime.
	To this end, the UK Human Trafficking Centre, in conjunction with the National Policing Improvement Agency, has introduced mandatory training for all new police officers on human trafficking.
	The UK Border Agency has introduced mandatory e-learning on human trafficking for all operational staff below the level of Assistant Director. This has helped to improve their ability to identify and report potential incidents of human trafficking, and where applicable to refer onwards via the National Referral Mechanism.

Human Trafficking

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the work of the UK Human Trafficking Centre's prevention sub-group in each year since its inception.

Damian Green: There has been no Home Office assessment of the UK Human Trafficking Centre's prevention sub-group.

Immigrants: Detainees

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passengers have been detained at Britain's ports and airports while travelling on forged or stolen travel documents in each of the last three years.

Damian Green: The following table outlines the number of false travel documents detected by Border Force officers at UK ports and airports and juxtaposed controls for each of the last three calendar years.
	
		
			   Total 
			 2008 2,745 
			 2009 1,770 
			 2010 1,589 
		
	
	We are unable to provide figures based on the number of passengers detained in possession of forged documents because the data are not centrally recorded in this way. In order to retrieve the information in the requested format we would have to refer to individual records at disproportionate cost.
	These figures do not include the number of inadequately documented passengers denied boarding by commercial carriers' overseas, who work in conjunction with UK Border Agency immigration liaison officers and managers (formerly airline liaison officers). Since 2004, the number of immigration liaison officer deployments to key travel hubs has more than doubled resulting in significant numbers of passengers being stopped with false documents before they travel to the UK. Greater numbers are also subject to visa controls and the safeguards and biometric capture involved also has a significant deterrent effect.

Immobilisation of Vehicles: Private Land

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to ensure that plans to tax clamping and towing on private land do not leave property owners unable to tackle illegal parking on their land.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government intend to include in the Protection of Freedoms Bill, to be introduced by February, provisions that will make it an offence to immobilise or tow away a vehicle without lawful authority, with the intention of preventing the motorist from moving their vehicle.
	This will not prevent landowners from using other forms of parking control which remain legal: for example, ticketing or fixed barriers. Where appropriate, the Government would expect landowners to use those other types of parking control.
	The Bill will also include provisions to extend the powers of the police to move cars that are parked dangerously or obstructively on private land in the same way as they can do at present on public roads.

Legal Highs

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to identify new and emerging legal highs.

James Brokenshire: The Government takes the issue of new psychoactive substances (so called 'legal highs') very seriously.
	On 30 November 2010 we introduced to this House legislative proposals, in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 with provisions for temporary banning powers on new 'legal highs' and for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD's) membership to have the flexibility required to respond to a challenging drugs landscape.
	On 1 January 2011 the Home Office launched a three month pilot to explore improvements to the current forensic early warning system for identifying new and emerging drugs. This includes working with forensic and chemical suppliers, law enforcement agencies and experts in the field to develop a co-ordinated UK-wide approach to laboratory testing and analysis of law enforcement seizures and wider test purchasing to identify new psychoactive substances more quickly. The creation of a 'virtual reference library' of characterised chemical reference standards is also being explored.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to respond to the letter from the right hon. member for Manchester, Gorton of 13 December 2010 in regard to Mr R Bestford.

James Brokenshire: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 20 January 2011.

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to review the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave on 6 December 2010,  Official Report, column 103W.

Police: Demonstrations

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the adequacy of  (a) resources,  (b) the legal framework,  (c) guidance issued by her Department and  (d) her Department's policy for dealing with public order issues relating to public protests and ensuring public safety and proportionate policing.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 3 December 2010
	The Government's policy is to support the police in striking the right balance between facilitating peaceful protest and dealing robustly with individuals engaged in crime and disorder at demonstrations. The Government continue to work closely with the police and other agencies in respect of recent, current and forthcoming public order challenges to assess their impact on the police's responsibility in maintaining this balance.

Sexual Offence Liaison Officers

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sexual offence liaison officers were employed in each police force in the latest period for which figures are available.

Lynne Featherstone: holding answer 25 January 2011
	 The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. Decisions on the deployment of officers are for each force to make.

Vetting

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to announce the completion of the review into the future of criminal record checks and the vetting of volunteer workers.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government have commissioned a review of the criminal records regime which we expect to report within the next few weeks. We shall consider carefully and respond to the outcomes and recommendations of the review. The Government continue to be committed to reducing the barriers to volunteering.

Visas: Internet

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has plans to enable  (a) students and  (b) other visitors from abroad to submit applications for visas entirely online.

Damian Green: There are three main parts to the overseas visa application process:
	Application form
	This may be submitted online
	Biometric (fingerprint) enrolment and core biometric verification (checking passport details)
	This is done in person by the applicant at one of our Visa Application or Biometric Enrolment Centres
	Supporting document submission (may be done in person or sent depending on location)
	Given that an applicant will be required to submit biometrics in person, there are no plans to enable  (a) students and  (b) other visitors from abroad to submit applications for visas entirely online.

Young Offenders

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged 10 to 16 years were  (a) arrested for an offence,  (b) charged with an offence,  (c) cautioned for an offence and  (d) convicted of an offence in 2009.

James Brokenshire: The arrests collection held by the Home Office is an aggregate collection covering specific age bands. Figures are collected on arrests of persons in the 10-17 age band, rather than the 10-16 band requested.
	In 2008-09 (latest available) the number of persons aged 10-17 arrested for notifiable offences in was 273,041.
	Data provided by the Ministry of Justice on the number of 10-16 year olds given reprimands and final warnings (juvenile cautions), proceeded against at magistrates courts (provided in lieu of charges as charges data are not available) and found guilty at all courts for all offences in 2009, are provided in the table.
	The arrests data provided by the Home Office covers notifiable offences only whereas the data provided by the Ministry of Justice covers all criminal offences, therefore the data are not directly comparable.
	
		
			  Number of offenders  aged 10 to 16 years given a reprimand or warrning( 1, 2)  and the number of defendants aged 10 to 16 proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts, for all offences, England and Wales, 2009( 3, 4) 
			   Number 
			 Reprimand or warning 63,380 
			 Proceeded against 65,929 
			 Found guilty 52,083 
			 (1) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and warnings. (2) The reprimand or warning statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When an offender has been given a reprimand or warning for two or more offences at the same time the principal offence is the more serious offence. (3) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services-Ministry of Justice.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Burma: Overseas Aid

Malcolm Wicks: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding was allocated by his Department to  (a) the Mao Tao Clinic and  (b) Backpack Health Worker teams operating in Burma in the last year for which figures are available.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided £119,999 in 2009-10 to the Mao Tao Clinic. We are considering a proposal for additional health aid for displaced people in conflict-affected parts of eastern Burma.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Malcolm Wicks: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department has allocated aid to ethnic Karen refugees in response to the current political situation in Karen State, Burma.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) is providing approximately £1.6 million this financial year for food, housing, other supplies and improved access to legal assistance for the 146,000 Burmese refugees living in camps in Thailand. We have not provided additional funding in response to the recent upsurge in fighting in Karen state.

Departmental Communication

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures he has undertaken to reduce jargon and promote plain English in Departmental communications.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) is committed to ensuring that UK taxpayers understand where their money goes and the results it achieves. DFID aims to communicate this as clearly as possible to the public.
	There is an expectation that staff use plain English, as set out in guidance on how to present advice to Ministers, and respond to inquiries from the public. Work is routinely returned for redrafting if it does not meet this expectation. Staff are supported through face-to-face and online training; the latter is provided in partnership with the Plain English Campaign. Professional editors produce all content for DFID's online and print publications.
	Ministers have been forceful in requiring clear prose and high standards of punctuation and grammar.

Malaria: Disease Control

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the unit cost of  (a) anti-malarial mosquito nets and  (b) pentavalent vaccines provided by his Department.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) uses a variety of channels to fund and deliver long lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) including through its support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, UNITAID and through bilateral support at country level. The purchase and delivery cost of LLINs varies between countries and by delivery channel. Recent analysis of 55 countries reporting on procurement by the Global Fund, which accounted for 35% of global purchases, estimated the average unit cost of purchasing a LLIN to be US $5.30 in 2009. This does not include distribution costs.
	DFID provides funds through the GAVI Alliance to roll out the pentavalent vaccine. Due to increased demand for the vaccine and a reduced price offer by an emerging market vaccine manufacturer, GAVI estimates that in 2011 the average weighted price for the vaccine will go down to US $2.58, compared to the current average price of US $2.97.

Nigeria: Education

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will provide additional funding and capacity for the element of the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria that supports the development of schools-based management committees.

Stephen O'Brien: Support for school management committees is one of the four main elements of the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN). To date ESSPIN has supported nearly 1,000 school management committees, which has led to significant improvements in local accountability and involvement.
	There is no plan at present to provide additional resources for this particular aspect of ESSPIN's work. However, a mid-term review which will begin in May 2011 will look at how funds can be best utilised within the programme to ensure greatest benefits to students, schools and communities. We are also supporting school management committees through other partners, including UNICEF, and will be reviewing how to achieve greatest results and best value for money.

Sri Lanka: Food

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received from the World Food Programme on the effect on food rations in Sri Lanka of insufficient donor funding in 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The British high commission in Colombo has recently discussed food aid funding issues with representatives of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Our understanding is that, at present, WFP only has sufficient funding for its food aid programme in Sri Lanka until April 2011.

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees on the provision of shelter cash grants to internally-displaced families being resettled in Sri Lanka.

Alan Duncan: The British high commission in Colombo is in regular contact with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sri Lanka on this and other issues. In 2010, the Department for International Development (DFID) provided £300,000 to UNHCR for shelter cash grants. In total, more than 70,000 families returning to their home areas have now benefitted from UNHCR's cash grants programme.

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made on the level of involvement of  (a) Tamil community groups and  (b) independent politicians in the process of resettlement in Sri Lanka.

Alan Duncan: Tamil community groups, such as rural development societies, are helping internally displaced people to re-establish their livelihoods on their return to their home areas. Opposition and minority parties and politicians have raised concerns over issues such as the pace of resettlement with the relevant authorities.

Sri Lanka: Schools

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has received from UNICEF on the effect on the schooling of children in Sri Lanka of the use of school property in the Northern Provinces for military or rehabilitation purposes.

Alan Duncan: The British high commission in Colombo is in regular contact with UNICEF about humanitarian issues in Sri Lanka. We have received no representations from UNICEF on this particular question.

UN Agencies: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department contributed to the UN Division for the Advancement of Women in each of the last four years.

Alan Duncan: The Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) is part of the UN Secretariat. It is funded from UN member states' assessed contributions to the UN regular budget. The UK's contribution to the regular budget is managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The Department for International Development (DFID) has not made any additional contribution to DAW in the last four years.

UN Agencies: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department contributed to the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues in each of the last four years.

Alan Duncan: The UN Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) is part of the UN Secretariat. It is funded from UN member states' assessed contributions to the UN regular budget. The UK's contribution to the assessed budget is managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The Department for International Development (DFID) has not made any additional contribution to OSAGI in the last four years.

UN Agencies: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department contributed to the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women in each of the last four years.

Alan Duncan: The International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) is part of the UN Secretariat. It is funded from UN member states' assessed contributions to the UN regular budget. The UK's contribution to the assessed budget is managed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The Department for International Development (DFID) has not made any additional contribution to INSTRAW in the last four years.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  where each regiment of the  (a) Royal Artillery,  (b) Royal Engineers,  (c) Royal Signals and  (d) Household Cavalry is stationed;
	(2)  where each infantry battalion is stationed.

Nick Harvey: The name and location of each Regular and Territorial Army Infantry Battalion is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Name of Infantry Battalion (Bn)  Barracks (Bks)/Station/Location 
			 1st Bn Grenadier Guards Wellington Bks, London 
			 1st Bn Coldstream Guards New Mons Bks, Aldershot 
			 1st Bn Scots Guards Bourlon Bks, Catterick 
			 1st Bn Irish Guards Victoria Bks, Windsor 
			 1st Bn Welsh Guards Lille Bks, Aldershot 
			 The London Regiment Battersea, London 
			 1st Bn The Royal Regiment of Dreghorn Bks, Edinburgh, Scotland 
			 2nd Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland Glencorse Bks, Edinburgh 
			 3rd Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland Fort George, Inverness 
			 4th Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland St Barbara Bks, Fallingbostel 
			 5th Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland Howe Bks, Canterbury 
			 6th Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland Walcheren Bks, Glasgow 
			 7th Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland Queen's Bks, Perth 
			 1st Bn The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment Barker Bks, Paderborn 
			 2nd Bn The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment Napier Lines, Woolwich 
			 3rd Bn The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment Leros TA Centre, Canterbury 
			 1st Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Mooltan Bks, Tidworth 
			 2nd Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Trenchard Bks, Celle 
			 5th Bn The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Gilesgate Armoury, Durham 
			 1st Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment Queen Elizabeth Bks, Pirbright 
			 2nd Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment ESBA, Dhekelia, Cyprus 
			 3rd Bn The Royal Anglian Regiment Blenheim Camp, Bury St Edmonds 
			 1st Bn The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment Somme Bks, Catterick 
			 2nd Bn The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment WSBA, Episkopi, Cyprus 
			 4th Bn The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment Kimberley Bks, Preston 
			 1st Bn The Yorkshire Regiment Oxford Bks, Munster 
			 2nd Bn The Yorkshire Regiment Weeton Bks, Preston 
			 3rd Bn The Yorkshire Regiment Battlesbury Bks, Warminster 
			 4th Bn The Yorkshire Regiment Worsley Bks, York 
			 1st Bn The Mercian Regiment Marne Bks, Catterick 
			 2nd Bn The Mercian Regiment Palace Bks, Belfast 
			 3rd Bn The Mercian Regiment Lumsden Bks, Fallingbostel 
			 4th Bn The Mercian Regiment Wolseley House TA Centre, Wolverhampton 
			 1st Bn The Royal Welsh Regiment The Dale, Chester 
			 2nd Bn The Royal Welsh Regiment Lucknow Bks, Tidworth  
			 3rd Bn The Royal Welsh Regiment Maindy Bks, Cardiff 
			 1st Bn The Rifles Beachley Bks, Chepstow 
			 2nd Bn The Rifles Abercorn Bks, Ballykinler 
			 3rd Bn The Rifles Redford Bks, Edinburgh 
			 4th Bn The Rifles Kiwi Bks, Bulford 
			 5th Bn The Rifles Allanbrooke Bks, Paderborn 
			 6th Bn The Rifles Wyvern Bks, Exeter 
			 7th Bn The Rifles Brock Bks, Reading 
			 1st Bn The Royal Irish Regiment Clive Bks, Tern Hill 
			 2nd Bn The Royal Irish Regiment Portadown, Northern Ireland 
			 2nd Bn The Parachute Regiment Merville Bks, Colchester 
			 3rd Bn The Parachute Regiment Merville Bks, Colchester 
			 4th Bn The Parachute Regiment Thornbury Bks, Pudsey 
			 1st Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles Sir John Moore Bks, Shorncliffe 
			 2nd Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles Seria, Brunei 
		
	
	The name and location of each Regular and Territorial Army Regiment of the  (a) Royal Artillery,  (b) Royal Engineers,  (c) Royal Signals and  (d) Household Cavalry is shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  The Royal Artillery 
			  Name of Regiment  Barracks (Bks)/Station/Location 
			 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Assaye Barracks, Hampshire 
			 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Caen Barracks, Hohne 
			 4th Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Alanbrooke Barracks. Topcliffe 
			 5th Regiment Royal Artillery Marne Barracks, Catterick 
			 7th (Parachute) Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Merville Barracks, Colchester 
			 12th Regiment Royal Artillery Baker Barracks, Hampshire 
			 14th Regiment Royal Artillery Royal Artillery Barracks, Larkhill 
			 16th Regiment Royal Artillery St Georges Barracks, North Luffenham 
			 19th Regiment Royal Artillery Bhurtpore Barracks, Tidworth 
			 26th Regiment Royal Artillery Mansergh Barracks, Gutersloh 
			 29 (Commando) Regiment Royal Artillery RHQ 8, 23,79 Batterys, Plymouth 
			 32nd Regiment Royal Artillery Roberts Barracks, Larkhill 
			 39th Regiment Royal Artillery Albemarle Barracks, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne 
			 40th Regiment Royal Artillery Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn 
			 47th Regiment Royal Artillery Baker Barracks, Thorney Island 
			 The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery Ordnance Hill, St Johns Wood, London 
			 Honourable Artillery Company Finsbury Barracks, London 
			 100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) RHQ/201 Bty RA(V), TA Centre, Luton 
			 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) R.HQ, Napier Armoury, Gateshead 
			 103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) R.HQ, Jubilee Barracks, St Helens 
			 104th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) Raglan Barracks, South Wales 
			 105th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) RHQ, Artillery House, Edinburgh 
			 106th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) Napier House, Grove Park, London 
			 Central Volunteers Headquarters Royal Artillery and Headquarters Woolwich Station Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich 
		
	
	
		
			  The Royal Engineers 
			  Name of Regiment  Barracks (Bks)/Station/Location 
			 21 Engineer Regiment Claro Bks, Ripon, N Yorks 
			 22 Engineer Regiment Swinton Bks, Tidworth, Hants 
			 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) Rock Bks, Woodbridge, Suffolk 
			 24 Commando Engineer Regiment RM Chivenor, Barnstaple, Devon 
			 25 Engineer Regiment (Air Support) Waterbeach Bks, Waterbeach, Cambs 
			 26 Engineer Regiment Swinton Bks, Tidworth, Hants 
			 28 Engineer Regiment Gordon Bks, Hameln, Germany 
			 32 Engineer Regiment Campbell Bks, Hohne, Germany 
			 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Carver Bks, Wimbish, Essex 
			 35 Engineer Regiment Barker Bks, Paderborn, Germany 
			 36 Engineer Regiment Invicta Park Bks, Maidstone, Kent 
			 38 Engineer Regiment RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland 
			 39 Engineer Regiment (Air Support) Waterbeach Bks, Waterbeach, Cambs 
			 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) Denison Bks, Hermitage, Berks 
			 101 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Carver Bks, Wimbish 
			 62 Works Group Royal Engineers 1 Chetwynd Bks, Chilwell, Notts 
			 63 Works Group Royal Engineers 1 Chetwynd Bks, Chilwell, Notts 
			 64 Works Group Royal Engineers 1 Chetwynd Bks, Chilwell, Notts 
			 66 Works Group Royal Engineers 1,2 Chetwynd Bks, Chilwell, Notts 
			 67 Works Group Royal Engineers 1,2 Chetwynd Bks, Chilwell, Notts 
			 Work Group Royal Engineers (Airfields) 1 Waterbeach Bks, Waterbeach, Cambs 
			 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment Brompton Bks, Chatham, Kent 
			 3 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment Gibraltar Bks, Camberley, Surrey 
			 Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) The Castle, Monmouth, Gwent 
			 71 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) RAF Leuchars, St Andrews, Fife 
			 72 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) Napier Armoury, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear 
			 73 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) TA Centre, Nottingham, Notts 
			 75 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) Peninsula Bks, Warrington, Cheshire 
		
	
	
		
			  The Royal Signals 
			  Name of Regiment  Station/Location 
			 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment Hammersmith Barracks, Herford (GE) 
			 2nd Signal Regiment Imphal Barracks, York 
			 3rd (United Kingdom) Division Headquarters and Signal Regiment Picton Barracks, Bulford 
			 7th Signal Regiment Javelin Barracks, Elmpt (GE) 
			 10th Signal Regiment Basil Hill Site, Corsham 
			 11th Signal Regiment Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum 
			 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy (nr Haverfordwest) 
			 16th Signal Regiment Javelin Barracks, Elmpt (GE) 
			 18th (United Kingdom Special Forces) Signal Regiment Stirling Lines, Hereford 
			 21st Signal Regiment (Air Support) Azimghur Barracks, Colerne (nr Bath) 
			 22nd Signal Regiment Beacon Barracks, Stafford 
			 30th Signal Regiment Gamecock Barracks, Bramcote (nr Nuneaton) 
			 32nd Signal Regiment (Volunteers) Glasgow 
			 37th Signal Regiment (Volunteers) Redditch 
			 38th Signal Regiment (Volunteers) Sheffield 
			 39th Signal Regiment (Volunteers) Bristol 
			 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment (Volunteers) Bexley, London 
		
	
	
		
			  The Household Cavalry 
			  Name of Regiment  Barracks (Bks) Station/Location 
			 The Household Cavalry Regiment Combermere Bks, Windsor 
			 The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment Hyde Park Bks, Knightsbridge, London

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will estimate the cost per unit of renovating  (a) Mastiff,  (b) Ridgback and  (c) Jackal vehicles to long-term service;
	(2)  how many  (a) Mastiff,  (b) Ridgback and  (c) Jackal vehicles will remain in long-term service.

Peter Luff: The Mastiff, Ridgback and Jackal vehicles were purchased as urgent operational requirements, specific to the conditions and threats faced in Afghanistan by our armed forces. No decision has yet been taken as to whether any of the 1,000 plus vehicles so far purchased will be taken into the core equipment programme. The cost of renovating any vehicles will depend on the number of vehicles to be taken into the core equipment programme and the state of repair of these vehicles on their return from theatre.

Departmental Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what allowances and payments in addition to salary were available to officials in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies in each year since 1997; and what the monetary value was of payments and allowances of each type in each such year.

Peter Luff: The Department currently has over 500 pay-related allowances and payments in addition to salary available to civilian staff, the majority of which are listed on the People, Pay and Pensions Agency (PPPA) website:
	http://www.pppaservices.qinetiq-tim.com/https@knowledge.chris.r.mil.uk/pppa/index@page=content&id=us131&cat=pay_and_expenses &actp=list.htm
	Travel and subsistence claims and transfer allowances are payable to civilian staff, in addition to salary. These are listed on the PPPA website:
	http://www.pppaservices.qinetiq-tim.com/https@knowledge.chris.r.mil.uk/pppa/index@page=content&id=pr200&cat=travel_and_subsistence &actp=list.htm
	Information on the monetary value of each type of allowance and payment in each year since 1997 is not held in the format requested, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, information is available from July 2007, but will take a short while to compile. I will write to my hon. Friend with the information as soon as possible.
	As the strategic defence and security review made clear, we intend to simplify the allowance structure, as part of an update of the current package of terms and conditions of service.

Departmental Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was paid to officials in his Department and its non-departmental public bodies in bonuses and other payments in addition to salary in each year since 1997; how many officials received such payments; and what the monetary value was of the largest 20 payments made in each such year.

Andrew Robathan: The information is as follows:
	Non-consolidated performance awards-MOD: A close and effective link between pay and performance is a key element of the reward arrangements for the civil service. The performance element of pay is colloquially known as a bonus, but it is a misleading description because the performance-related element of pay is not additional, it is part of the departmental pay bill.
	For the senior civil service (SCS) performance incentives are paid primarily as non-consolidated performance payments. Any award is based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed against their peers and awards are made to those judged to have made the greatest in-year contribution to business objectives. There is no restriction on the nature of the contribution but it must benefit the Department or defence more widely. Recommendations for awards are considered by moderation committees and must be linked to clear evidence of delivery.
	All satisfactory performers at SCS level were eligible to be considered for a non-consolidated performance award in line with Cabinet Office guidelines and the MOD pay strategy.
	Financial year 2003-04 was the first year in which the MOD paid non-consolidated performance awards to any of its staff.
	The following table details how much was paid to members of the SCS in non-consolidated performance payments by financial year.
	Senior fixed term employees are individuals who are recruited through fair and open competition from outside the civil service. Those employed as senior fixed term appointees (FTAs) are on individual contracts and have a higher percentage of pay set to performance awards which are judged against stringent and stretching delivery based objectives. Some have staged payments and it is now usual to pay a smaller annual performance award with the remainder deferred for two to three years and judged against the delivery of medium to longer term objectives. Performance is judged by line management with assistance from senior officials, stakeholders, remuneration committees and in some cases internal audit.
	Details of how much has been paid in non-consolidated awards and to how many SCS each year are shown in tables 1 and 2. Table 3 shows the monetary values of the largest non-consolidated payments made in each year to the combined SCS population of permanent staff and fixed term appointees.
	
		
			  Table 1-SCS permanent staff 
			   Performance year 
			   2009-10  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04 
			   Financial year 
			   2010-11  2009-10  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05 
			 Number of awards paid 169 195 187 186 181 181 136 
			 Value of awards paid (£) 995,500 1,594,500 1,501,700 1,325,700 1,178,500 899,822 711,737 
		
	
	
		
			  Table  2 -SCS  fixed term appointees 
			   SCS FTA  performance year 
			   2009-10  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04 
			   Financial year 
			   2010-11  2009-10  2008-09  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05 
			 Number of awards paid (1)17 27 16 10 12 16 13 
			 Value of awards paid (£) 338,122 838,393 333,915 78,874 80,478 119,688 80,347 
			 (1) Six yet to be decided 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3-Top 20 highest non-consolidated awards for combined SCS population 
			  Financial year  £ 
			 2010-11 49,937 
			  49,900 
			  35,113 
			  25,755 
			  24,360 
			  22,153 
			  17,000 
			  15,750 
			  15,605 
			  15,000 
			  15,000 
			  13,800 
			  12,500 
			  12,500 
			  12,500 
			  12,500 
			  12,500 
			  12,500 
			  12,485 
			  10,674 
			   
			 2009-10 84,563 
			  75,000 
			  72,540 
			  55,350 
			  50,000 
			  50,000 
			  48,720 
			  48,000 
			  31,470 
			  30,750 
			  30,000 
			  30,000 
			  25,765 
			  24,101 
			  22,888 
			  21,337 
			  21,033 
			  16,200 
			  15,000 
			  15,000 
			   
			 2008-09 88,296 
			  61,250 
			  50,000 
			  48,000 
			  37,675 
			  31,703 
			  30,780 
			  30,000 
			  30,000 
			  30,000 
			  27,600 
			  24,000 
			  23,085 
			  22,085 
			  22,000 
			  21,546 
			  20,480 
			  19,000 
			  17,163 
			  17,091 
			   
			 2007-08 63,000 
			  50,000 
			  48,000 
			  24,000 
			  21,000 
			  20,000 
			  18,468 
			  17,716 
			  17,600 
			  17,600 
			  17,340 
			  15,450 
			  15,341 
			  14,500 
			  14,500 
			  12,750 
			  12,750 
			  12,240 
			  10,690 
			  10,000 
			   
			 2006-07 19,253 
			  16,000 
			  14,721 
			  14,000 
			  14,000 
			  14,000 
			  14,000 
			  12,546 
			  11,000 
			  11,000 
			  11,000 
			  11,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			   
			 2005-06 14,340 
			  12,250 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  10,000 
			  9,000 
			  9,000 
			  9.000 
			  7,863 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			  7,500 
			   
			 2004-05 11,358 
			  10,445 
			  9.821 
			  9,203 
			  8,777 
			  8.759 
			  8.695 
			  8.650 
			  8.600 
			  8,540 
			  8,463 
			  8,365 
			  8,256 
			  8,226 
			  8,226 
			  8,125 
			  7.400 
			  7,370 
			  7,069 
			  7,004 
		
	
	For staff below the SCS, non-consolidated performance awards are paid to staff who meet the eligibility criteria. Higher levels of award are available for those who have contributed most to the business. These awards are distributed on the basis of relative assessment among peers and are designed to encourage continuous high attainment against stretching objectives.
	The MOD also operates an in year non-consolidated payment scheme, the special bonus scheme (SBS), which rewards eligible MOD civilians for exceptional performance in a specific task or for the achievement of a professional qualification the use of which benefits MOD and the individual. Separate arrangements apply to Ministry of Defence police (MDP) officers.
	In 2007 the Department moved to a new pay system and the ability to interrogate payments made through the SBS before this date has been diminished and therefore any effort now to try and access this data would require a disproportionate cost. SBS data is though available for financial years 2003-04 to 2006-07 because it was reported in previous parliamentary questions.
	The following table details the total value of payments made to staff below the SCS by way of non consolidated performance payments and SBS awards by financial year.
	
		
			  Financial year  Total value of awards made (£)  Total number of awards made( 1) 
			 2003-04 24,113,406 39,369 
			 2004-05 33,947,217 46,269 
			 2005-06 43,038,937 49,093 
			 2006-07 41,060,624 55,339 
			 2007-08 46,256,490 61,878 
			 2008-09 47,516,913 71,940 
			 2009-10 44,231,916 66,585 
			 2010-11 0 0 
			 (1) It is not possible to state how many individuals received awards since the data is held as number of awards made and not the number of recipients.  Note: Figures for financial year 2010-11 will not be available before 30 April 2011 since SBS awards are payable in year. 
		
	
	This response excludes information on staff below the SCS in MOD trading funds which have separate pay delegations.
	With the exception of the National Museum of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force Museum, figures for the Department's non-departmental public bodies are included in the figures above.
	Like the MOD, financial year 2003-04 was the first year in which non-consolidated performance awards were paid to staff at the National Museum of the Royal Navy. The following table details the total value of payments made to staff by way of non consolidated performance payments awards by financial year.
	
		
			  Financial year  Total value of awards made (£)  Number of staff receiving awards  Value of largest 20 payments 
			 2003-04 12,100 19 £425-£1,300 
			 2004-05 19,650 21 £625-£2,100 
			 2005-06 21,860 20 £625-£2,025 
			 2006-07 20,525 23 £300-£2,900 
			 2007-08 21,750 29 £400-£1,560 
			 2008-09 27,020 43 £400-£1,565 
			 2009-10 5,203 37 All £141 
		
	
	The National Museum of the Royal Navy has no special bonus scheme.
	The Museum does not keep records going back to 1997, but since 2004 non-consolidated performance awards and other payments have been available for staff employed by the museum and its trading subsidiary through one or more of the following:
	a special bonus scheme (typically £7,000 per annum in total has been set aside and payments to staff have been of the order of £250 to £1,000, generally under 10 awards each year),
	performance related pay (where the level of award has varied between a percentage-based amount or cash sum-both non consolidated-and is linked to the annual appraisal-individual payments typically being between £400 and £1,000 although in individual cases have been up to £3,000), costing the Museum approximately £100,000 per year,
	'incentivised' contracts for key trading subsidiary managers (head of retail or head of corporate events) where payments have varied from zero to over £3,000, depending on the trading subsidiary's performance and a percentage-based award for more junior trading subsidiary staff (typically 1% of salary) the cost falling on the trading subsidiary,
	in the case of the director general (until this year) through the non-consolidated performance award scheme applicable to senior civil servants, again linked to the annual appraisal process where payments in excess of £10,000 have been made, No award was made in 2009 and the system does not apply to the newly-appointed director general.
	The largest payments made were to the director general under the conditions set out in the last paragraph and the directors (where performance awards were percentage-based) although these would have generally been below £5,000.
	Other payments: The Department currently has over 500 pay-related allowances and payments in addition to salary available to civilian staff. The majority of which are listed on the People, Pay and Pensions Agency services website:
	http://www.pppaservices.qinetiq-tim.com/https@knowledge.chris.r.mil.uk/pppa/index@page=content&id=us131&cat=pay_and_ expenses&actp=list.htm
	In addition allowances and payments in addition to salary in regard to civilian travel and subsistence claims and transfer allowances are payable. These are listed on the PPPA services website:
	http://www.pppaservices.qinetiq-tim.com/https@knowledge.chris.r.mil.uk/pppa/index@page=content&id=pr200&cat=travel_and_ subsistence&actp=list.htm
	Information on the monetary value of each type of allowance and payment in each year since 1997 is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost for such a large number of allowances and payments. Information is available from July 2007, but will take a short while to compile. I will write to my hon. Friend with the details as soon as possible.
	 Substantive answer from Andrew Robathan to Priti Patel, dated 25 January 2011:
	I undertook to write to you in relation to my answer to your Parliamentary Question on 11 November 2010 (Official Report, columns 439-45W), regarding bonuses and other payments in addition to salary paid to officials in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs). My hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology (Peter Luff), also undertook to write to you in relation to his answer to your Parliamentary Question on 27 October 2010 (Official Report, column 374W) regarding the same subject. I shall respond to both questions.
	The MOD currently has over 500 pay-related allowances and payments in addition to salary available to civilian staff, the majority of which are listed on the People, Pay and Pensions Agency services website:
	http://www.pppaservices.qinetiq-tim.com/https@knowledge.chris.r.mil.uk/pppa/index@page=content&id=us131&cat=pay_and_ expenses&actp=list.htm
	In addition, allowances and payments in addition to salary in regard to Civilian Travel and Subsistence Claims and Transfer allowances are payable. These are listed on the PPPA Services website:
	http://www.pppaservices.qinetiq-tim.com/https@knowledge.chris.r.mil.uk/pppa/index@page=content&id=pr200&cat=travel_and_ subsistence&actp=list.htm
	Information on the monetary value of each type of allowance and payment in each year for financial years 1997 to 2007 for the Department is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost for such a large number of allowances and payments.
	Information is available from 2007-2008. However, due to a change in pay systems not all personnel were on the payroll until July 2007. This information is attached for your reference, and will be placed in the Library of the House.
	The MOD has two NDPBs which have separate pay and grading delegations, the National Museum for the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force Museum. Information on the National Museum for the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force Museum from 2004 will be placed in the Library of the House. Information on the monetary value of each type of allowance and payment in each year for financial years 1997 to 2004 is not held by the Royal Air Force Museum in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Trident

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what preparatory work for the assessment phase for the replacement programme for Trident has been commissioned on  (a) the hull structure and structural fittings, including on castings and forgings and on steel and control surfaces,  (b) primary and secondary propulsion systems and  (c) electrical generation, conversion and distribution, including turbo generators, platform management system software, main switchboards, internal communications, diesel generators, main static converters, main DC distribution, distribution convertors, cathodic protection system, the degaussing system, computer information systems, main battery, and remote visual surveillance system; from which companies such work has been commissioned in each case; and what the value is of each such contract.

Peter Luff: Two of the purposes of the concept phase of the programme to replace the Vanguard submarines are to identify technology and procurement options for meeting the requirement, and to provide information to support initial gate decisions.
	During the concept phase the Ministry of Defence has placed contracts with Rolls-Royce Power Engineering plc that include design and development work for the primary propulsion plant, with design verification and validation activities, to a value of some £220 million. A number of technical demonstrator contracts have also been placed with industry and other bodies to inform work on the options and recommendations made in the initial gate business case.
	Some of this work will inform decisions on the purchase of the long lead items listed in the question, but further information is not held centrally and to attempt to reconcile the information against the list of long lead items given could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Trident

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what work his Department has commissioned on spatial arrangements covering boat compartments under the assessment phase of the Vanguard submarine replacement for Trident programme to date; and what the monetary value is of each contract for such research and design work;
	(2)  what enabling work has been contracted on  (a) value engineering and  (b) the management of design margins under the assessment phase of the Vanguard submarine replacement for Trident programme; what the monetary value is of each such contract; and how much has been spent under each such contract to date;
	(3)  what contracts have been placed to undertake research and development work on  (a) combat system design and engineering and  (b) primary and secondary propulsion design and engineering for the assessment phase of the replacement programme for Trident; and what the value is of each such contract;
	(4)  what contracts have been placed to undertake research and development work on  (a) combat system design and engineering and  (b) primary and secondary propulsion design and engineering in respect of the assessment phase for the Vanguard submarine replacement programme for Trident; and what the monetary value is of each such contract;
	(5)  which companies have been contracted to date  (a) to deliver System Drawings and Equipment Technical Specifications and  (b) to demonstrate system performance and compliance with system functional requirements under the assessment phase for the Vanguard submarine replacement for Trident programme; and what the monetary value is of his Department's contract with each such company.

Peter Luff: No such contracts have been placed as the programme to replace the Vanguard Class submarine has yet to enter the assessment phase.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of long-term trends in hospital admittances for alcohol consumption by teenagers.

Anne Milton: Alcohol misuse is a major public health issue. We know that teenagers can be especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of drinking. 'Healthy Lives, Healthy People', published in December 2010, sets out how we can best harness the effects of individuals, families, local and national government and the private, voluntary and community sectors to take better care of our children's health and development.
	The Government's new drug strategy, published in December 2010, includes measures to prevent young people's alcohol misuse by providing accurate information, simplified guidance for schools and a review of Personal Social Health and Economic education (PSHE).
	Data on the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions are collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre and published in their annual Statistics on Alcohol, England report. The most recent estimates show that hospital admissions of teenagers aged 13 to 15 have started to decrease, while hospital admissions for 16 to 19 and 20 to 24-year-olds are still increasing. Estimates of the number of teenage alcohol-related hospital admissions is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Estimate of alcohol-related admissions for selected age groups for the years 2002-03 to 2009-10 in England 
			   Admissions 
			   13-15 years  16-19 years  20-24 years 
			 2002-03 3,804 13,777 18,210 
			 2003-04 4,313 15,075 20,290 
			 2004-05 4,337 16,994 22,599 
			 2005-06 4,700 19,792 25,461 
			 2006-07 4,578 20,583 26,447 
			 2007-08 4,250 21,503 27,862 
			 2008-09 3,317 20,691 28,693 
			 2009-10 3,331 21,470 30,488 
			  Notes: 1. Estimate of Alcohol-related admissions Alcohol-related admissions The number of alcohol-related admissions is estimated, based on the methodology developed by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO). Figures for under 16s only include admissions where one or more of the following alcohol-specific conditions were listed: Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (I42.6) Alcoholic gastritis (K29.2) Alcoholic liver disease (K70) Alcoholic myopathy (G72.1) Alcoholic polyneuropathy (G62.1) Alcohol-induced pseudo-Cushing's syndrome (E24.4) Chronic pancreatitis (alcohol induced) (K86.0) Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol (G31.2) Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol (F10) Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol (X45) Ethanol poisoning (T51.0) Methanol poisoning (T51.1) Toxic effect of alcohol, unspecified (T51.9) The application of the NWPHO methodology was updated in summer 2010 and is now available directly from HES. As such, information about episodes estimated to be alcohol related may be slightly different from previously published data. 2. Age at start of episode This derived field, calculated from episode start date (epistart) and date of birth (dob), contains the patient's age in whole years 3. Finished admission episodes A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 4. Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in national health service practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Cancer: Health Services

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Cancer Network on his proposed reform of NHS structures;
	(2)  what plans he has for the future relationship between cancer networks and  (a) the NHS Commissioning Board,  (b) Public Health England and  (c) GP consortia.

Paul Burstow: Cancer networks have had a crucial role in improving the quality of cancer treatment and patient experience of care-they have helped commissioners, providers and patients work together to plan and deliver high quality cancer services. We know that general practitioner consortiums will need commissioning support, and cancer networks will be well placed to provide that.
	We have said in 'Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer' that next year there will be funding for cancer networks to support commissioning. However, we will not pre-empt future decisions by the NHS Commissioning Board by committing funding beyond 2011-12.
	Cancer networks currently play a role in promoting the prevention and early detection of cancer. In the future, Public Health England might wish to work with cancer networks on these issues.
	No recent discussions have taken place between Ministers and representatives of cancer networks.

Cannabis: Mentally Ill

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the potential relationship between cannabis and skunk cannabis and psychosis or schizophrenia; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Government asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to reassess the latest evidence on the health harms of cannabis, including the risks to young people in 2007.
	Their report, 'Cannabis: Classification and Public Health (2008)', was published in May 2008 and found a probable but weak causal link between psychotic illness and cannabis use, but whether this will become stronger with the wider use of higher potency cannabis remains uncertain.
	Subsequently, in 2009 we updated the FRANK website with new information on the harms of cannabis reflecting the scientific consensus.

Cannabis: Misuse

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what NHS treatment is available for persons  (a) under 18 and  (b) 18 and over for addiction to cannabis or skunk cannabis; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: Psychosocial interventions are the mainstay of treatment for cannabis misuse for people of all ages. 'Drug misuse and dependence UK guidelines on clinical management (2007)' notes that there are no medications suitable for treating cannabis misuse and advises that clinicians should consider psychosocial interventions, especially brief motivational interventions in mild cases. More heavily dependent misusers may require structured treatment. In cases of co-morbidity with depression and anxiety, treatment will include cognitive behavioural therapies.
	With regard to under-18s, local authorities will be supported in carrying out a local needs assessment and planning for the full range of services that will respond to young people's substance misuse needs, and also enable them to have clear protocols in place to meet the needs of vulnerable young people.

Cannabis: Misuse

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people  (a) under the age of 18,  (b) between 18 and 24,  (c) between 24 and 30 and  (d) 30 and above were treated for cannabis addiction in each of the last 10 years.

Anne Milton: The following tables show the number of people in treatment for cannabis use, broken down by age.
	
		
			  Trends in age group for those in treatment for cannabis use 
			   18-24  25-29  30-34  35-39  40+  Total 
			 2005-06 4,735 1,910 1,654 1,325 1,481 11,105 
			 2006-07 5,501 2,093 1,760 1,488 1,815 12,657 
			 2007-08 5,717 2,199 1,730 1,431 1,928 13,005 
			 2008-09 6,205 2,321 1,672 1,390 1,937 13,525 
			 2009-10 6,665 2,505 1,733 1,321 2,085 14,309 
			  Source: Statistics from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 
		
	
	
		
			  Under 18s in treatment for cannabis use 
			   Number 
			 2005-06 9,043 
			 2006-07 10,824 
			 2007-08 12,021 
			 2008-09 12,642 
			 2009-10 13,123 
			  Source: Substance misuse among young people: the data for 2009-10 
		
	
	The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse assumed responsibility for the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) in 2003. The introduction of a new NDTMS methodology in 2008-09 means that year-on-year comparable trend data are only available from 2005-06.

Departmental Communication

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to reduce jargon and promote plain English in Departmental communications.

Simon Burns: Earlier in 2010 the Communications Directorate in the Department of Health commissioned work to help the Department communicate better with the public, staff and patients.
	This work comprised a review of a large body of research existing within the Department which can be described as "message testing". As a result of this review, Department of Health Communications has produced a source book which provides practical, evidence-based principles that can be used by anyone within the Department who is writing communications for both internal and external audiences. It sets out in clear terms the type of language which both public and national health service staff find clear, unambiguous and jargon free.
	We are currently working on ways in which the findings from this project can be disseminated across the Department.

Departmental Manpower

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2010,  Official Report, column 1285W, on departmental manpower, what the  (a) organisations and  (b) job titles are of the six members of the Steering Group below Senior Civil Service level.

Anne Milton: The following table gives the details of the organisations and job titles of the six members of the steering group below senior civil service level:
	
		
			  Organisation  Title 
			 Department of Health, Health and Wellbeing Division Programme Manager, Drugs Policy 
			 National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse Senior Academic Advisor 
			 National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse Programme Manager 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority Strategy Business Manager 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority Specialist in Self Medication 
			 Department of Health, Medicines Pharmacy and Industry Policy Manager, Community Pharmacy

Depressive Illnesses

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess long-term trends in rates of depression among those aged  (a) 15 to 19,  (b) 20 to 24 and  (c) 65 years and over.

Paul Burstow: This information is not included in the Department's regular statistical terms and is not available for the age groups requested. However, some information is available from the report 'Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007-Results of a Household Survey', published jointly by the Office of National Statistics and the National Health Service Information Centre. A copy has been placed in the Library. The following table gives information on the percentage of people in the available age groups who were suffering from a mixed anxiety and depression disorder in 1993, 2000 and 2007.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  Age group  16-34  35-44  45-54  55-64  65-74 
			 1993 8.3 8.4 6.8 5.0 - 
			 2002 9.9 9.9 9.3 7.5 5.2 
			 2007 10.5 8.5 11.2 8.0 6.4

Drugs: Misuse

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to publish his review of prescription drug addiction; and what consultation on that review he proposes to undertake following publication.

Anne Milton: The reports commissioned to gather evidence on addiction to medicines will be published early this year and we expect this to be before Easter recess. Following publication, we will be involving interested parties to determine the future direction of policy and service planning.

Health Services

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had on integration between hospital consultants and GPs in order to improve patient pathways; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The White Paper "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS" marked the start of the consultation on the Government's vision to devolve power and responsibility for commissioning services to local consortia of general practitioner (GP) practices. The Government's response to the White Paper published in December 2010, "Liberating the NHS: legislative framework and next steps", outlined the views expressed, including on partnership working between hospital consultants and GPs.
	The views expressed during the consultation highlighted the importance of multi-professional involvement in commissioning.
	The Government recognise that commissioning by consortia is not just about GPs-good commissioning and designing care pathways will need to involve a wide range of clinicians. But we think that consortia of GP practices are also best placed to use the wealth of expertise. This is why the Health and Social Care Bill provides for consortia to ensure that they have appropriate advice from professionals with expertise in health.

Influenza: Vaccination

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates the seasonal influenza advertising campaign was launched in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: Seasonal influenza vaccination campaigns were run in 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10. In 2009-10, the campaign started in late September. In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09, the campaigns started in October.

Lorazepam

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 21 December 2010,  Official Report, columns 1265-8W, on benzodiazepines, what is meant by the term not confirmed which was given as the legislative basis for 17 generic lorazepam licenses.

Simon Burns: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency holds data on medicinal products on an electronic database. The database is searchable and can be used to bring back information such as the legal basis of an application as requested in relation to the lorazepam products. Historically, the legal basis of an application has not been recorded in a searchable form and thereafter this has been established by manually reviewing available records.
	Where the precise legal basis has not been confirmed from the manual search that has been shown as 'not confirmed'. However, the reply of 21 December 2010,  Official Report, columns 1265-8W, was clear in explaining that the applications would have been made under article 4.8a (of directive 65/65/EEC) which made provision for an abridged application, that is, an application made without supplying results of toxicological tests and clinical trials.

MMR Vaccine

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many infants have suffered  (a) allergic,  (b) serious,  (c) critical and  (d) fatal reactions to the MMR vaccine in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: Reports of suspected adverse reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines (CHM) through the spontaneous reporting scheme, the Yellow Card Scheme. The scheme collects ADR reports from across the whole United Kingdom for all medicines and vaccines.
	Between 1 January 2006 and 31 December 2010, the MHRA has received a total of 418 UK spontaneous 'suspected' ADR reports associated with the MMR vaccine in children aged five years or under. During this time, at least 5 million doses of MMR vaccine have been given in the United Kingdom. The following table provides a breakdown of these reports.
	
		
			   Total number of : 
			   ADRs  serious ADRs  allergic ADRs  fatal ADRs 
			 2006 108 55 2 2 
			 2007 59 25 1 2 
			 2008 76 31 1 0 
			 2009 82 40 2 3 
			 2010 93 51 2 1 
		
	
	It is important to note that such reports relate to suspected adverse reactions. Reports may be adverse reactions to the vaccine, they may be related to the process of vaccination rather than to the vaccine itself (e.g. nervousness or anxiety about needle injection); or they may be purely coincidental events that would have occurred anyway in the absence of vaccination (e.g. events due to underlying medical conditions). These reports cannot therefore be used to calculate the true frequency of adverse reactions.

MRSA

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to reduce the number of cases of MRSA.

Simon Burns: Although the national health service has made significant reductions in the number of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemias (bloodstream infections), this Government are determined to do all they can to support the health and adult social care providers to make further improvements. From the outset, through the coalition agreement, this Government made clear that they expected the NHS to adopt a zero tolerance approach to all health care associated infections (HCAIs), including MRSA.
	The "NHS Operating Framework 2011-12", published in December, requires the NHS to continue prioritising the achievement of the MRSA Objective, as well as the new Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) Objective. These Objectives, through their successful implementation, will have a significant impact on reducing variation by moving all organisations towards the performance of the best and consequently will at the same time reduce numbers at a national level.
	We have also, from the end of December 2010, extended the previous requirement for the NHS to screen all relevant elective admissions to also include relevant emergency admissions.
	To support the wide availability of data to help drive further reductions in MRSA, we have introduced weekly publications of data for both MRSA bloodstream infections and C. difficile infections at hospital-site level.
	We are also committed to ensuring that the NHS continue to have access to evidence-based guidance in order to reduce the number of all HCAIs, including MRSA, through the implementation of effective infection prevention and control practices. As part of this commitment, a comprehensive suite of updated guidance was published on the Department's "Clean, Safe Care" website on 6 January 2011.
	The Health and Social Care Act 2008 "Code of Practice for health and adult social care on the Prevention and Control of Infections and related guidance", which the Care Quality Commission use as a basis for assessing compliance with the registration requirement on cleanliness and infection control, has been a driver for improvement in the hospital setting. We extended the scope of the Code to adult social care settings from October 2010 and will include primary care in due course so that we can ensure that all settings where patients receive care and treatment operate comparable infection prevention and control practices.

Multiple Sclerosis

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether the multiple sclerosis clinical guidelines will be reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence; when he expects his Department's review of the guidelines to commence; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will review the multiple sclerosis clinical guideline for the purpose of ensuring that it is up-to-date.

Simon Burns: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) routinely reviews its published guidance, but we understand that it has not at this point set out a timescale for considering whether a review of its clinical guideline on multiple sclerosis is appropriate.
	NICE is an independent body and the Department does not review the clinical guidelines it produces.

NHS Foundation Trusts: Community Care

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had on the acquisition of community assets by foundation trusts which have taken over community services; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Department has discussed with the national health service, HM Treasury, the Government Property Unit and the Homes and Communities Agency the transfer of assets currently owned by NHS primary care trusts (PCTs) that support the delivery of community services.
	On 6 January 2011, the Department announced in support of the Transforming Community Services agenda that all aspirant community foundation trusts would have the opportunity to acquire PCT owned estate that supports the services they are taking over. The future ownership and management of the remaining estate owned by PCTs is being considered.

Obesity

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence of  (a) childhood and  (b) adult obesity was in each (i) local authority area, (ii) health authority area and (iii) constituency in each year for which figures are available.

Anne Milton: Information is not available in the format requested.
	Information on the percentage of obese children in England is available in the "Health Survey for England-2009 trend tables", Child trend tables, Table 4. Information is provided for children aged two to 15 in England for the years 1995 to 2009. This information is available from the following link:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse09trends
	The proportion of children aged two to 15 recorded as obese by strategic health authority (SHA) for 2008 is available in Table 13.3 on page 327 of the "Health Survey for England-2008: Physical activity and fitness". The information is available from the following link:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse08physicalactivity
	Further information on the prevalence of obesity in children at a primary care trust (PCT) and local authority (LA) level is available through the National Child Measurement Programme. Information is available for children in Reception (four to five years) and year six (10 to 11 years) for the years 2006-07 to 2009-10. Information showing prevalence of obesity among children in these two school years by LA, PCT, SHA and for England is available for each year from the following links:
	Tables 2 and 3 of the accompanying excel file of the "National Child Measurement Programme: England, 2009/10 school year" report is available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/national-child-measurement-programme-england-2009-10-school-year
	Tables 2 and 3 of the accompanying excel file of the "National Child Measurement Programme: England, 2008/09 school year" report is available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/national-child-measurement-programme-england-2008-09-school-year
	Table 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying excel file of "National Child Measurement Programme: results from the 2007/08 school year", headline results report is available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/national-child-measurement-programme-results-from-the-school-year-2007-08
	Table 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying excel file of "National Child Measurement Programme: results from the 2006/07 school year", headline results report is available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/obesity/national-child-measurement-programme-results-from-the-2006-07-school-year
	Information on the percentage of obese adults aged 16 and over in England is available in the "Health Survey for England-2009 trend tables", Adult trend tables, Table 4. Information is provided for adults in England for the years 1993 to 2009. This information is available from the following link:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse09trends
	The proportion of adults aged 16 and over recorded as obese by SHA for 2008 is available in Table 7.3 on page 194 of the "Health Survey for England-2008: Physical activity and fitness". The information is available from the following link:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/hse08physicalactivity
	All these publications have already been placed in the Library.

Prescriptions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of long-term trends in prescriptions for  (a) headaches,  (b) indigestion and  (c) sleeping disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: No such assessment has been undertaken. Prescribing figures for medicines classified in the British National Formulary (BNF) to treat the conditions listed, covering the latest available 10-year period, are provided. Information on the indication for which a medicine is prescribed, is not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Number of prescription items written in the United Kingdom and dispensed in the community in England for medicines classified in the British National Formulary (BNF) to treat headaches, indigestion and sleeping disorders 
			  Thousand 
			   BNF section 4.7 Analgesics( 1)  BNF section 1.1 Dyspepsia and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease( 2)  BNF section 1.3 Antisecretory drugs and mucusoal protectants( 2)  BNF section 4.1.1 Hypnotics( 3) 
			 2000 42,849.1 6,936.3 17,231.0 10,645.2 
			 2001 44,017.3 6,672.4 18,951.3 10,709.3 
			 2002 44,698.7 6,356.3 20,613.2 10,673.7 
			 2003 45,779.2 6,047.2 22,392.7 10,638.8 
			 2004 46,553.5 5,847.4 24,524.3 10,520.0 
			 2005 47,624.3 5,457.0 26,949.8 10,069.3 
			 2006 48,927.4 5,030.1 29,571.1 9,924.4 
			 2007 51,600.8 4,947.1 32,669.4 10,072.1 
			 2008 54,511.5 4,874.7 36,068.6 10,127.1 
			 2009 57,455.2 4,780.9 39,660.0 10,250.9 
			 (1) There are no specific drugs for headache and so the figures are for all medicines in BNF section 4.7 analgesics, including those used for migraine. (2) Indigestion is usually treated with antacids, antisecretory drugs or mucusoal protectants. The figures are for BNF sections 1.1 Dyspepsia and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and 1.3 Antisecretory drugs and mucusoal protectants. Some of the drugs in section 1.3 are also used for other purposes such as in the treatment of ulcers. (3) Most sleeping disorders would be treated with a short course of hypnotics, as listed in BNF section 4.1.1 Hypnotics. Some of these drugs may be used for other treatments.  Source: Prescription cost analysis (PCA) system

Smoking: Health Services

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people attended NHS smoking cessation services in each quarter since 1 April 2009.

Anne Milton: Information on people setting a quit date, through the national health service stop smoking services, and successful quitters by quarter since 1 April 2009, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of people in England setting a quit date and successful quitters( 1)  since 1 April 2009 
			  Quarters  Number setting a quit date  Number of successful quitters  Percentage who successfully quit 
			 April to June 2009(2) 185,852 89,358 48 
			 July to September 2009(2) 167,423 79,842 48 
			 October to December 2009(2) 161,056 79,962 50 
			 January to March 2010(2) 243,206 124,792 51 
			 April to June 2010(3) 183,030 85,749 47 
			 July to September 2010(3) 158,425 76,504 48 
			 (1) A client is counted as a successful quitter smoking at the four week follow-up appointment if he/she has not smoked at all since two weeks after quit date. (2) Quarterly Data, which has been finalised by The Health and Social Care Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics. (3) Quarterly data has been published for the first two quarters of 2010-11. This data remains provisional until the end of year 2010-11 report is published, expected to be in August 2011.  Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre, Lifestyle Statistics 
		
	
	Only people who set a quit date through the NHS stop smoking services are included in the Quarterly Monitoring Returns. Those who attend the service but do not set a quit date are not included.
	The data on the number of quit attempts for quarters April to June 2010 and July to September 2010 are provisional.
	Information on people setting a quit date and successful quitters, by quarter, 2001-02 to 2009-10 is contained within table 2.2 of "Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services: England; April 2009 to March 2010".
	This publication has already been placed in the Library.

Smoking: Health Services

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people made calls to the NHS stop smoking quitline in each quarter since 1 April 2009.

Anne Milton: The following table shows the number of people who made calls to the national health service stop smoking quitline in each quarter since 1 April 2009:
	
		
			Number 
			 Q1 April-June 2009 60,131 
			 Q2 July-September 2009 50,181 
			 Q3 October-December 2009 48,543 
			 Q4 January-March 2010 137,126 
			
			 Q1 April-June 2010 24,740 
			 Q2 July-September 2010 20,497 
			 Q3 October-December 2010 18,123

Smoking: Health Services

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has allocated to public health advertising campaigns on smoking in each quarter since 1 April 2009.

Anne Milton: The following table shows how much funding the Department has allocated to public health advertising campaigns on smoking in each quarter since 1 April 2009:
	
		
			£ 
			 Q1 April-June 2009 1,738,880 
			 Q2 July-September 2009 2,792,414 
			 Q3 October-December 2009 4,374,811 
			 Q4 January-March 2010 5,887,332 
			
			 Q1 April-June 2010 85,836 
			 Q2 July-September 2010 0 
			 Q3 October-December 2010 110,854 
		
	
	A total budget figure for the 2010-11 financial year cannot be provided at this stage because detailed planning for additional marketing communications work is underway and allocations for advertising media have not yet been finalised.
	Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, Central Office of Information commission and VAT). All figures exclude advertising rebates and audit adjustments and therefore may differ from Central Office of Information official turnover figures.
	These figures are provisional for 2010 because the invoicing for some campaigns run towards the end of the year has not yet have been completed.

Swine Flu: Vaccination

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will review the medical advice on vaccination against swine influenza in view of the death of Lana Ameen.

Anne Milton: The Government's policy on influenza vaccination is informed by the expert advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). In their statement of 23 July, JCVI recommended that those children with clinical conditions which put them more at risk from the effects of influenza should be offered the vaccine.
	JCVI met on 30 December to review the latest evidence on this issue following the meeting, the JCVI Chairman assured the Secretary of State for Health that this advice remains appropriate, and recommended that efforts be focused on maximising vaccine uptake among all those in the risk groups. As with all vaccination programmes, JCVI will keep this matter under review.

Worcestershire Royal Hospital: Private Finance Initiative

Robin Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his latest estimate is of costs  (a) incurred to date and  (b) to be incurred in the remaining period of the private finance initiative contract for the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Simon Burns: The cost incurred to date in respect of the private finance initiative (PFI) contract for Worcester Acute Hospitals National Health Service Trust since the new hospital opened in March 1999 is estimated to be £233.1 million. This is the total of the annual unitary payments paid by the national health service trust to the private sector consortium for all the services it provides under the contract such as construction, provision of building maintenance and facilities management such as catering, cleaning and portering, information technology and equipment provision and replacement.
	This figure is based on the audited summarisation schedules of the trust for 2003-04 to 2008-09 held by the Department (which it only has for six years on the same accounting standard); and estimates for 1999-2000 to 2002-03 and 2009-10 based on other information held and standard assumptions about inflation.
	The estimated cost to be incurred for the remaining 19 years of the PFI contract is £619 million. This is a projection based on the estimated payment for 2009-10 uprated annually using a retail prices index (RPI) figure of 2.5% (used as a long-term average estimate). It must be noted that the annual unitary payments fluctuate both up and down as a result of contractor performance, additional services requested by the trust or taken out, the effects of refinancings and changes to RPI, so these figures are only estimates.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance: Halifax

Linda Riordan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Halifax constituency claim the mobility component of disability living allowance.

Maria Miller: The information is reproduced in the following table.
	
		
			  Recipients of the mobility component of disability living allowance in Halifax parliamentary constituency. May 2010 
			   Number 
			 Higher rate 2,970 
			 Lower rate 1,630 
			 Total 4,600 
			  Notes: 1. Case load figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 4. Parliamentary constituency of claimant (Westminster). These constituencies are used for the Westminster Parliament 2010. 5. Data are published on the Department's website at http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Disability Living Allowance: Reading West

Alok Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Reading West constituency were in receipt of  (a) disability living allowance and  (b) employment support allowance or incapacity benefit at the commencement of each financial year since 1997-98.

Maria Miller: The information is as follows:
	
		
			  Number in receipt of incapacity benefits, employment and support allowance and disability living allowance in Reading West parliamentary constituency 
			   DLA  IB/SDA  ESA 
			 May 2010 3,680 2,570 - 
			 May 2009 3,380 2,720 - 
			 May 2008 3,180 2,960 - 
			 May 2007 2,980 2,950 - 
			 May 2006 2,860 2,970 - 
			 May 2005 2,750 2,950 - 
			 May 2004 2,610 2,910 - 
			 May 2003 2,460 2,700 - 
			 May 2002 2,330 2,620 - 
			 May 2001 2,100 2,670 - 
			 May 2000 2,100 2,680 - 
			 May 1999 2,000 2,400 - 
			 May 1998 1,900 2,700 760 
			 May 1997 1,900 2,900 360 
			  Notes: 1. May 1997 to May 1999 incapacity benefit figures and May 1997 to May 2001 disability living allowance figures are based on sample data and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation. 2. 5% sample figures are rounded to the nearest hundred, and 100% case loads to the nearest 10. 3. 5% sample figures have been uprated using 5% proportions against 100% WPLS totals.  4. Incapacity benefit was replaced by employment support allowance (ESA) from October 2008. 5. Published benefit data reflect the 2010 parliamentary constituencies from May 2010 data onwards. Prior to May 2010 the Westminster parliamentary constituencies for 2005 have been used. 6. DLA figures are in payment.  Source: 1997-99 IB/SDA figures and 1997-2001 DLA figures Information Directorate 5% samples IB/SDA 2000 onwards, DLA 2002 onwards and ESA figures DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data.

Employment and Support Allowance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 11 January 2011,  Official Report, column 252W, on incapacity benefit: unpaid work, if he will make it his policy to ensure that persons found to be fit for work are ineligible to claim employment and support allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: People who have been found fit for work following a work capability assessment will not be eligible to claim employment and support allowance as they will no longer meet the eligibility conditions for that benefit. They may be eligible to claim other benefits.
	It should be noted, that people claiming benefits on the grounds of incapacity can undertake a range of activities, including certain unpaid work and continue to be entitled to benefit. These rules are known as permitted work.
	The permitted work rules allow customers in the Work Related Activity Group to retain all their ESA for up to a year while undertaking paid work, provided earnings are below the £95.00 a week and the hours worked do not exceed 16 hours a week.
	People in the Support Group, who are less likely to move into full-time work, are able to undertake permitted work on an indefinite basis. Unlike claimants in the Work Related Activity Group, they are not limited to an overall period of a year, provided that earnings do not exceed £95.00 per week and the hours worked do not exceed 16 hours a week.
	The permitted work rules strike a delicate but important balance between, on the one hand, encouraging customers to build their confidence, undertake some part-time paid work, and plan a gradual move to sustained employment, while continuing to receive benefit, and, on the other, providing the incentive for them to move off benefit entirely and into full-time work, in line with the Government's overall approach.

Housing Benefit

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what account he took of paragraph 7.8 of the consultation, Local Decisions: a fairer future for social housing, in the drafting of paragraph 70 of his Department's impact assessment, Housing Benefit: Changes to Local Housing Allowance Arrangements, on the abolition of the five bedroom rate for housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The average five bedroom local housing allowance rate is £15,288 per year. We are not saying that families cannot live in properties with more than four bedrooms but the choices these families make must be affordable and sustainable. We are ensuring that housing benefit reflects the aspiration of families who manage without benefit and who make housing choices that their budgets can support.

Housing Benefit

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the single room rate is to be applied to housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The shared room rate in local housing allowance and the single room rent for pre-local housing allowance cases are only applicable to housing benefit tenants living in the private rented sector.

Housing Benefit: Job Seeker's Allowance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be affected by the reduction in housing benefit for those who have been in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for over 12 months in  (a) 2013,  (b) 2014 and  (c) 2015;
	(2)  what methodology he used to calculate the number of people who will be encouraged to take up work as a result of the implementation of the 10 per cent. reduction in housing benefit for those on jobseeker's allowance for over 12 months;
	(3)  what proportion of the £110 million savings expected to be made from the implementation of the proposed 10 per cent. reduction in housing benefit for those on jobseeker's allowance (JSA) for over 12 months he expects to be made as a result of  (a) lower payments to some JSA claimants and  (b) a reduction in the number of JSA claimants consequent on people moving back into work.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available. We will publish an equality impact assessment for the proposed changes to housing benefit announced at Budget 2010, in the normal way, accompanying the relevant legislation when introduced in Parliament.
	Estimated savings made by reducing housing benefit entitlement for jobseekers after 52 weeks are based on information about the existing HB and JSA population. It is one of a number of measures designed to reduce expenditure on housing benefit and increase the financial incentive for people to work. For this reason it is not possible to take one measure in isolation in estimating how many people would move into work as a result and the estimated savings do not take into account the impact on benefit savings of this effect.

Housing Benefit: Leeds

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in housing benefit to individuals in  (a) Leeds City Council area and  (b) Leeds Central constituency in each year from 1996-97 to 2009-10.

Steve Webb: Housing benefit (HB) data by parliamentary constituency are not available. Housing benefit expenditure data at local authority level can be found at the following URL:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/h_tables_budget2010.xls
	Housing Benefit expenditure for Leeds Local Authority is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Leeds local authority housing benefit 
			  Expenditure £ million 
			   Nominal terms  Real terms 2010/11 prices 
			 1996-97 138.3 194.6 
			 1997-98 138.0 189.3 
			 1998-99 137.6 184.9 
			 1999-2000 143.9 189.5 
			 2000-01 143.6 186.7 
			 2001-02 146.4 186.2 
			 2002-03 156.6 193.0 
			 2003-04 139.7 167.4 
			 2004-05 149.4 174.2 
			 2005-06 157.4 180.2 
			 2006-07 163.4 181.0 
			 2007-08 172.6 185.9 
			 2008-09 192.6 201.8 
			 2009-10 223.2 230.1 
			  Note: Real terms figures calculated using GDP deflators published at the Autumn Statement.  Source: Local Authority subsidy claims

Housing Benefit: Reform

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he made of the accommodation requirements of large families in formulating his proposals for housing benefit reform.

Steve Webb: The average five bedroom local housing allowance rate is £15,288 per year. Capping at the four bedroom rate does not mean that families cannot live in properties with more than four bedrooms, but the choices these families make must be affordable and sustainable. We are ensuring that housing benefit reflects the aspiration of families who manage without benefit and who make housing choices that their budgets can support.

Incapacity Benefit: Ankylosing Spondylitis

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he made an estimate of the number of people in receipt of incapacity benefit on the grounds of a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis in the last financial year.

Maria Miller: The following table gives the national numbers of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants with a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, by duration of claim, as at May 2010.
	
		
			   All  Ankylosing spondylitis 
			 All 2,126,690 2,900 
			 Up to 1 year 28,640 30 
			 Over 1 year and up to 2 years 119,700 110 
			 Over 2 years and up to 5 years 500,340 500 
			 Over 5 years 1,478,010 2,260 
		
	
	The following table gives the national numbers of employment support allowance claimants with a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis, by duration of claim at May 2010
	
		
			   All  Ankylosing Spondylitis 
			 All 527,120 310 
			 Up to 1 year 412,810 230 
			 Over 1 year and up to 2 years 114,310 80 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10; some additional disclosure control has also been applied. 2. Causes of incapacity are based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, published by the World Health Organisation. To qualify for IB/SDA, claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work which is called the Personal Capability Assessment. Therefore, the medical condition recorded on IB/SDA claim form does not itself confer entitlement to incapacity benefits, so for example, the decision for a customer claiming IB would be based on their ability to carry out the range of activities in the Personal Capability Assessment; or on the effects of any associated health problems. 3. IB/SDA figures cannot be taken to represent numbers off work-they are merely the number of claimants of IB at a point in time. Any figures we supply cannot be taken to represent sick absences as they do not include short periods of sickness of 3 days or less or days of Statutory Sick Pay (payable by an employer). Together with this, the figures will include some unemployed persons as well as those who do not declare their employment status on making a claim. 4. Employment and support allowance (ESA). ESA replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid on the grounds of incapacity for new claims from 27 October 2008.  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Jobcentre Plus

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with Jobcentre Plus on the levels of employment vacancies available to jobseekers with  (a) a physical disability and  (b) other disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: In providing a free public employment service, Jobcentre Plus takes over 10,000 new job vacancies every working day, all of which are open to any applicant who meets the vacancy requirements. Jobcentre Plus will not accept any vacancies that appear to discriminate unlawfully.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward proposals to vary the rate of interest used for calculating payments under the support for mortgage interest scheme for individuals who have fixed-rate mortgages.

Steve Webb: The standard interest rate used to calculate support for mortgage interest is currently 3.63% which is based on the Bank of England's August 2010 published average mortgage interest rate. This rate is based on information from around 25 banks and building societies which cover over 75% of all banks and building societies' mortgage business, and is a weighted average of all existing loans to households secured on dwellings from banks and building societies in the sample. The standard interest rate applies to all claimants who receive support for mortgage interest whatever their contractual mortgage interest rate or mortgage product. There are no plans to change these arrangements.
	Claimants' actual interest rates were used in the past to calculate support for mortgage interest. But that method was abandoned in 1995, in favour of a standard interest rate, which has proved to be far more efficient and straightforward.
	The pre-1995 arrangements, where claimants' actual rates were used by the department, were extremely complex to administer, prone to error and added cost. Reverting to that system carries an unacceptably high risk of increased overpayments and inefficiency, is resource intensive, and would not support the Government's aim of simplifying the benefit system.

Motability

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many Motability cars were reclaimed in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(2)  what his policy is on the use of Motability cars reclaimed from those who are deemed to be no longer eligible for them;
	(3)  for what purpose the Motability car reclaimed from Mr Robert Oxley of Colchester on 17 January 2011 is now being used.

Maria Miller: I am unable to comment on individual cases and the information you request is not held by the Government as Motability are an independent charitable organisation, wholly responsible for the administration of the Motability scheme.

New Deal Schemes: Wirral

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people resident in Wirral South constituency have found employment through the New Deal in each year since 2001.

Chris Grayling: There have been 870 young people (aged between 18 and 24-years-old) resident in the Wirral South constituency, who have found employment through the New Deal since 2001.
	Breakdowns of this information can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  The number of young people resident in the Wirral South constituency that have gained a job through the New Deal since 2001 
			   Gained a job 
			 2001 100 
			 2002 80 
			 2003 90 
			 2004 90 
			 2005 70 
			 2006 70 
			 2007 120 
			 2008 90 
			 2009(1) 150 
			 Total 870 
			 (1) Latest data are to November 2009  Notes: 1. We can identify relevant individuals who have been recorded by DWP computer systems as participating on contracted provision offered through the following schemes: New Deal for Young People, New Deal for Lone Parents, and New Deal for Disabled People. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 3. Information is only given from the most recent spell on New Deal. 4. Jobs include sustained and un-sustained jobs. Type of job gained; For New Deal for Young people and 25 plus a sustained job is a job from which a participant does not return to Jobseekers Allowance within 13 weeks; for NDLP a sustained job is a job recorded as lasting at least 13 weeks within the WPLS (Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study) database. Sustained jobs may include people who have had a subsidised job through the New Deal program (Employment option). 5. Information on type of job is not available for New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for Partners. 6. Destination is measured within two weeks of leaving New Deal, using information from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). 7. Leavers to Employment-total includes those who left to employment but are also in receipt of a benefit, for example DLA. 8. Information on Leavers for New Deal for Disabled People is not available as no measure exists. 9. New Deal for Partners: in total 20 people began this New Deal in Wirral South constituency. Of these the number aged 24 or under was negligible. 10. Latest data are to November 2009. 11. Data on New Deal for Disabled People is from July 2001 (the programme was started in 1999); and New Deal for Partners is available from April 2004 (programme started in May 1999). 12. Parliamentary constituency is for May 2010 boundaries. 13. The latest New Deal figures will be affected by the introduction of the new Jobseekers Regime and Flexible New Deal (gradual implementation started from April 2009).  Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Information Directorate

Pensioners

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who have pensions that are classed as trivial.

Mark Hoban: I have been asked to reply.
	The current pensions tax rules allow individuals aged over 60 whose total pension savings are worth less than £18,000 to withdraw their savings as a lump sum. This is known as "trivial commutation".
	The Government do not keep records of the number of trivial commutations made. However, the median pension wealth held by individuals aged 16 or over in 2006-08 was £6,500 for members of a defined contribution occupational pension scheme, and £12,000 for members of a personal pension(1). Against this background, the Government believe the current trivial commutation limit remains appropriate.
	(1) ONS Wealth and Assets Survey 2008/09, table 6.3

Pensioners: Barnsley

Michael Dugher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners receive  (a) the basic state pension and  (b) pension credit in Barnsley East constituency.

Steve Webb: The information available is in the table.
	
		
			  Barnsley East parliamentary constituency 
			  As at May 2010  Number 
			 State pension recipients 17,710 
			 Pension credit individual beneficiaries 6,560 
			 Pension credit household recipients 5,170 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. State pension figures are for the total state pension caseload. Around 1% of state pension recipients are not in receipt of the basic state pension, but are receiving additional state pension only or graduated retirement benefit only. 3. Basic state pension only figures are not available by current 2010 parliamentary constituencies. 4. Pension credit household recipients are those people who claim pension credit either for themselves or on behalf of themselves and a partner. Individual beneficiaries are the number of claimants in addition to the number of partners for whom they are claiming, some of whom will not have reached the pension credit qualifying age. 5. Parliamentary constituencies are for the Westminster Parliament of May 2010. 6. These data are published on the Department's website at http://83.244.183.180/100pc/tabtool.html  Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Pensions

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what savings to the public purse his Department expects to make as a result of using the consumer prices index for the uprating of  (a) benefits and  (b) public sector pensions in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) each of the subsequent five years.

Danny Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	The fiscal impact of the switch to CPI for the uprating of benefits, tax credits and public service pensions for the years up to 2014-1 5 is set out in Table 2.1 of the June Budget. Any estimates of the impact in later years would be highly uncertain, depending on both the trends in price indices and the underlying caseloads.

Remploy: Trade Unions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will meet trade union representatives from Remploy to discuss issues facing the Remploy work force; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: I confirmed in the autumn following the spending review settlement, that the budget for Remploy Limited during the five-year modernisation period remains protected at £555 million despite the challenging fiscal conditions. The Remploy Employment Services arm of operations supported over 10,600 disabled and disadvantaged people into work in 2009-10.
	The offer of voluntary redundancies in the Remploy factory business is a decision made by Remploy management to help the continuing operation of the businesses within that budget and to help ensure all employees have meaningful work. The choice of whether to accept the offer of voluntary redundancy is a matter for individual employees to take. By definition no member of staff at Remploy will be required to take voluntary redundancy.
	I have met trade union representatives to discuss issues facing Remploy, most recently on 24 January.

Remploy: Trade Unions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an assessment of the plan to reduce costs within Remploy recently presented to his Department by trade union members; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: The Remploy Trade Union Consortium has outlined a number of cost saving proposals in their report 'Remploy: A New Strategy for the Employment of Disabled People'.
	My officials and I have met and discussed these issues with trade union representatives including at a meeting on 24 January.
	The day to day operational decisions are the responsibility of the Remploy board and directors. The trade union report has been passed onto Remploy for consideration.
	Following the spending review settlement I can confirm that the five-year modernisation plan funding remains protected at £555 million despite challenging fiscal conditions.

Social Security Benefits: Crime

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he has assessed the potential effects of planned reductions in benefits in England and Wales on projected crime rates.

Maria Miller: No assessment of effects on crime rates has been made. Although there is some evidence of an overall association between lower incomes and increases in crime, the impact of benefit changes affecting specific groups of recipients may be very different and there is not enough robust evidence to support such an assessment.

Social Security Benefits: Decreases

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit claimants have had a benefit reduced or withdrawn on the ground of not actively seeking employment in the last 12 months.

Chris Grayling: Jobseeker's allowance is the benefit paid to unemployed people, one of the conditions for receipt of jobseeker's allowance is that claimants must be actively seeking work. Therefore when a claimant no longer meets this entitlement condition, the benefit award is ended.
	The latest information is as follows: between August 2009 and July 2010, 78, 460 disallowance decisions were enforced on the grounds of claimants not actively seeking employment.

Social Security Benefits: Learning Disability

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that people with learning difficulties  (a) are given appropriate support or  (b) are exempted from completing benefit entitlement forms.

Maria Miller: Jobcentre Plus provides appropriate and flexible support to ensure customers, regardless of their disabilities, are able to access its services. The majority of customers currently make their claims over the telephone to a contact centre. They are asked a range of questions to identify the most appropriate benefits available to them and the information is recorded electronically, removing the need for a claim form to be completed.
	If a call of this type might prove difficult for a customer, they can consent to a representative giving the information on their behalf. Customers can involve third party support at any stage in the process to access services if they think it is necessary.
	Increasingly, customers are opting to apply for jobseekers allowance online via the "Do it online" section of the Directgov website. This provides the flexibility to access Jobcentre Plus services from their own homes, at a pace that suits them and allows them to be assisted in completing the application by an advocate or representative. Customers can also submit an initial application for employment support allowance via the internet claim service.
	Should a customer be unable to use either of the options above, clerical forms can be issued or, where appropriate, a face to face interview at the customer's local Jobcentre Plus office organised.
	Pension Disability and Carers Service supports customers' claims to benefit in a range of ways dependent on individual circumstances. Customers can make a claim for their state pension by phone or online. Pension credit applications can be made by telephone or customers can download, print and complete an application form and post it free of charge to their pension centre. Where appropriate, a home visit will be arranged to assist with an application. A forms completion service provides support for those customers whose prefer to use the telephone.
	The Department makes every effort to ensure its leaflets are accessible and achieve the Crystal Mark status. Leaflets are referred for accreditation to the Plain English Campaign and should meet Crystal Mark criteria.
	While people with learning difficulties are not exempt from completing benefit claim forms, the Department has in place a range of support options to ensure that disabled people, including those with learning difficulties, are able to access the appropriate benefits and services.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average waiting time is for medical assessment appeals in  (a) Rutherglen,  (b) South Lanarkshire and  (c) Scotland.

Maria Miller: Information on appeal waiting time is not available at the constituency level.
	For new employment and support allowance (ESA) claims, that were received in the Scotland Government Office Region (GOR) between October 2008 and August 2009, have lodged an appeal and had their appeal heard by the end of July 2010, the average time for the appeal to be resolved is 24 weeks. For claims from the South Lanarkshire local authority area, the average time for an appeal to be resolved is 25 weeks.
	Note that there will be some appeals that have not yet been resolved for this period so it is likely the average appeal times will increase when these cases come through.
	This information is taken from benefit claims data held by the Department for Work and Pensions and appeals data sourced from the Tribunals Service. Average appeal durations have been rounded to the nearest week.
	 Background notes
	The data presented above uses the same source data as used to produce the official statistics report on the WCA last published in October 2010. The latest report can be found on the DWP website at the following link. These statistics are regularly updated and present the latest and most reliable data we hold. More information is available in the report.
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_wca/index.php?page=esa_wca_arc
	 Constituency level data
	Information on the home constituency of ESA claims is not recorded.
	 ESA appeals data
	Data on people appealing against a fit for work decision is only available once the appeal has been heard and the result given. Since appeals take around six months to be completed on average, there is a significant delay between an appeal being lodged and the result being given. Data are presented for claims starting by August 2009 since we expect that the large majority of appeals for these cases will have been cleared to date. If we were to provide data on more recent cases it would be unreliable and probably underestimate the true number of appeals.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost to the public purse has been of appeals made against medical assessment decisions since May 2010.

Chris Grayling: Jobcentre Plus, an agency of the Department for Work and Pensions, is only responsible for an element of the appeal process against medical assessment decisions relating to employment and support allowance (ESA). The majority of the process is handled by the Tribunal Service, part of the Ministry of Justice.
	Within Jobcentre Plus the direct staff administration cost of ESA appeals for the period from May 2010 to December 2010, the latest period for which figures are available, was £8 million.

Social Security Benefits: Prisoners

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners claiming benefits in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: An estimate of this number is not available.
	Prisoners convicted of a criminal offence and given a term of imprisonment do not receive benefits.
	An exception is made in certain housing benefit and council tax benefit cases, where the overall absence will not exceed 13 weeks, on the grounds that loss of the home or falling into council tax arrears in these circumstances would be an indirect and unjustified consequence of the punishment.
	Additionally, payment of industrial injuries disablement benefit is suspended for up to a year and paid on release, on the grounds that this benefit is a compensation payment, rather than being paid to meet specific or general needs or to provide income maintenance.
	Information on the number of prisoners who are in receipt of housing benefit, council tax benefit or industrial injuries disablement benefit is not available.

Unemployment: Disability

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure disabled people are not disproportionately affected by job losses; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: We are keen to ensure that disabled people are not disproportionately affected by job losses and that they have the same employment opportunities and chances as everyone else to find and stay in work, regardless of their disability.
	It is unlawful to dismiss a person because of their disability.
	As part of this commitment, the Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for a range of employment provision specifically aimed at disabled people:
	Work Choice-launched on 25 October, provides tailored support to help disabled people who face the most complex barriers to employment find and stay in work and ultimately help them progress into unsupported employment, where it is appropriate for the individual. Work Choice is voluntary and available regardless of any benefits being claimed.
	Access to Work-provides practical advice and financial support to employed disabled people above and beyond what the employer could reasonably provide, to help them overcome obstacles resulting from disability and thus stay in work.
	In addition, Remploy is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. It delivers a range of employment and development opportunities for disabled people under the Work Choice programme.
	The Department for Work and Pensions also funds residential training for unemployed disabled adults whose needs cannot be met through any other Government-funded programmes.
	Later this year, the Work Programme will be introduced which will provide more personalised back-to-work support for unemployed people, including disabled people.
	On 2 December, I announced in a written ministerial statement,  Official Report, columns 89-90WS, an independent review of the support the Government provide to disabled people who want to work. This review will be conducted by Liz Sayce, chief executive of the disability organisation RADAR.

Winter Fuel Payments

Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households in  (a) Wallasey constituency,  (b) the north-west and  (c) England received winter fuel payments in each of the last five years.

Steve Webb: The information is in the table.
	
		
			   Total number of payments made 
			   England  North-west Government office region  Wallasey parliamentary constituency 
			 2009-10 7,862,140 1,088,790 14,070 
			 2008-09 7,713,430 1,071,420 13,940 
			 2007-08 7,585,940 1,055,260 13,850 
			 2006-07 7,405,680 1,031,320 13,540 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Some discrepancies have been found in the figures for 2005-06 and the household tables for that year are currently being revised. 3. Constituencies used are for the Westminster Parliament of May 2005. Winter fuel payment figures for households for winter 2009/10 by 2010 parliamentary constituencies are scheduled for publication on 16 February 2011.  Source: DWP Information Directorate 100% data.